iActually Like Mean Girls
by OneHorseShay
Summary: "We loved… we loved with everything we had, that I think few people could truly appreciate and understand. We lost and… we've hurt. That's what happens: we get messed up for a while, but so what?" Freddie/Jade. Post-iOMG & Prome Wrecker.
1. Chapter 1

iActually Like Mean Girls

By OneHorseShay

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. For God sakes, don't sue.

Rating: T (Adult Themes/Language)

Summary: "We loved… we loved with everything we had, that I think few people could truly appreciate and understand. We lost and… we've hurt. That's what happens: we get messed up for a while, but so what?" Freddie/Jade. Post-iOMG, Post-Prome Wrecker, non-canon compliant afterwards. Alternate take on Locked Up.

Chapter 1

Who would have thought one little unexpected kiss a month ago could have turned his world upside down and inside out and send him into a direction he could never had imagined?

Freddie Benson was still trying to wrap his head around how he had reached this point as he laid in bed with the beautiful girl sound asleep on his left, resting her head on his bare chest and an arm draped across his abdomen. He had the white sheet pulled up (and wrapped his arm around her upper back) to cover her bare back that her locks of hair did not and her arms to keep her from waking up from the chilly air of the fantastic air condition that kept the room cool despite the already blistering heat of the morning outside. He was glad for the sheet because he was wearing only his socks and the beauty in his arms was not as heavily dressed as him because their clothes were at the foot of the bed.

Last night was unexpected for both of them. Neither teenager really knew what they were doing past a heavy make out session other than driven by instinct built in the core of a human being and the need to show how much the other had came to meant to her and him.

He had seen the hint of fear in her eyes about treading into the unknown, but he knew his eyes reflected the same feelings.

He allowed himself to be vulnerable and she had done the same.

She was a pleasantly surprising combination of passion and unexpected tenderness as she tried to dispel his fears.

He had attempted to do the same as he would hold her and caress her as if she was the most precious thing in the world as he was afraid he'd hurt her.

The look in her eyes had told him that she was surprised at how loving and tender he could be in return despite his strength and more importantly, grateful.

He couldn't describe the sensations she had brought to him, but he had hoped that he was able to do the same for her especially after seeing the momentary look of pain on her beautiful face just after they started.

How many people would condemn him at this moment if they knew what he had done last night and what he was doing this morning? He knew his mother would be so shocked that she might have a heart attack or a stroke as soon as she heard the news. He didn't care for any others' opinions.

He gently brushed her hair as she snuggled into his chest trying to get comfortable after a slight stirring. The brown eye boy was able to lift his head slightly and kiss the top of her head. He swore for a moment he saw a brief smile form on her face before slipping back into restful sleep.

She was mean, that was inarguable, but who wasn't at times? It wasn't an insurmountable problem for a relationship. People would think it would be hard to love her if they only knew her outer shell, but he knew if you knew what was inside, it was very easy to love her. The faults that were a part of her were just as important as her virtues and he wasn't entirely confident he wanted to change them about her.

The real obstacle was whether she wanted a relationship with him or had last night been a one time event or worst, a mistake.

If it was a mistake, it wasn't one he was going to regret and deep down he didn't think she would regret it either whether it worked out between them or not.

The light from the morning sun finally filtered through the blinds and started shining directly on the pair. The combination of warmth and light on her peaceful face started to get the girl to stir from her sleep. After trying to fight off the need to wake up by trying to hide her face in the between his neck and shoulder, she finally relented and lifted her head.

She rested her chin on his upper chest and was only a few inches if that from his face. Her crisp blue eyes came alive as she was finally able to focus on the wide awake soft brown eyes looking back at her. She smiled with those soft pink lips that he had kissed over and over last night. She whispered softly, as just speaking his name was a way of caressing him as she did last night, "Morning Freddie."

That tenderness brought a smile to his face and whispered back, "Morning Jade."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Freddie Benson's Hotel Room  
>Extended Stay America<br>6531 S. Sepulveda Blvd.  
>Los Angeles, CA 90045<br>Saturday, July 23, 2011

Jade rolled over unto her back, but very much wanting to remain in the grip of his left arm as his hand slid down her back and side to come to rest to softly palm her bare abdomen under the sheet. She suppressed a smirk as his pinky caught her bellybutton sending a tickling sensation up and down through her. She held the sheet up to near her neck to cover her modesty for a moment from the chilly air of the heavily air conditioned hotel room. She rested the side of her head against his cheek and the pair just took the moment to enjoy the presence of the other. Other than the slight noise from the outside world that vibrated through the windows of the several floors high hotel room, the room was dominated by the pair's soft breathing.

Freddie whispered into her right ear, "Did you sleep well?"

A small smile played on her lips. Contrary to what her outer façade she put on for display, she could and did appreciate the sweetness he would show to her, so it was easy to reply just as kindly, "Yes."

"I'm glad, because I don't have any experience sharing a bed and I was hoping I didn't disturb you."

"You didn't disturb me, it was… I haven't slept that well in a long time."

"Me too…" he left hanging in the air.

They rested peacefully for a few minutes until they heard the slight rumbling coming from Jade's stomach. Freddie laughed and shook his head as she looked away actually embarrassed with breaking the peaceful mood.

He tried to keep the laughter out of his voice as he stated, "I'm going to go fix us some breakfast."

Jade gave a slight nod then she sat up and pulled away from him to shift in her seat on to the edge of the bed to allow her bare legs to dangle off the edge of the bed. She held the sheet against her as she shifted her seat, but exposing her bare back momentarily before her raven locks fell, contrasting lovely against her paler skin to Freddie's eyes. He looked only for a few moments trying to drink in the beauty and resisted the urge to trace a finger down her spine, but he looked away and tried to suppress a blush forming on his cheeks. From the corner of her eye, she caught the light blush on the brown eye teenager's cheeks and his bashful expression. She smirked as she saw him look away. "We made lo—we had sex Freddie, you've seen it all, but now you're being bashful?"

He scooted up then palmed her left arm just to the side of her shoulder then tenderly kissed her shoulder. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip softly as a shiver went down her spine and it had nothing to do with the coolness of the room. She turned her head to meet his brown eyes and warm smile. She couldn't help herself but smile in return as she saw the playfulness in his eyes.

"Love, we made love and I'm not being modest, I'm being respectful. Just because I saw you once, doesn't mean I have a right to see you again whenever I want."

The raven haired teenager blinked and tried to mouth something in return, but she was at a lost for words as she looked at his bright smile and welcoming eyes as he then rested his chin on her shoulder. She swallowed timidly then let out an uneasy breath. "Freddie? About last night—"

He whispered softly, but in a confident voice, "Was very precious to me and something I'm going to treasure for the rest of my life, no matter how this turns out between us."

She just looked into those soft brown eyes and realized the honesty that they bared. They looked the same as last night when he held her and made her feel like the most precious thing in the world. She whispered in a playful manner, "It was for me too."

He smiled then continued, "Let me get started on breakfast and we can talk as much and as long as you want, but in the meantime the bathroom is yours and everything's in there you need for a shower and borrow anything you need from my clothes drawers."

"Okay," she replied then gave him a peck on the cheek. He smiled in return then scooted back over to his side of the bed.

She reached down and picked up his boxers and jeans and tossed them over to him. He smiled his thanks and she turned her head to give him is privacy on putting on his clothes. Once Freddie had his jeans on, he made his way to his clothes drawer and rummaged through one for a moment then pulled out a shirt. Jade watched from behind Freddie for a moment as he put on a black athletic undershirt. She bit her bottom lip to hold back from commenting (and making an unseemly primal noise) on how good he looked with the way his shoulder and back muscles would pull and flex while pulling the shirt over his head and pulling the hem down to his waist before he stepped out of the room. She smirked for a moment and realized that Beck did not look anywhere as good as Freddie did in one of those shirts. _Was rehab good to him or what…_

The thought led back to the events of last night and how she remembered those strong arms holding her. She didn't let her thoughts go to far astray or she realized that she might need to take a cold shower. Once she partially dispelled those thoughts, Jade pulled the sheet around her and hopped off the bed then held part of the sheet up as to not trip over it as she made her way to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>Jade relaxed for a few moments under the shower head as she let the hot water spray through her hair and down her face. She took one of the bars of soaps laid out on the banister and started scrubbing the remnants of whatever makeup was left on her face and to begin to wash away the lingering reminders of last night… but she had no regrets or shame she felt she needed to try to wash away. She smiled as she realized that Freddie's mother may be a hygiene freak, but she was glad that had rubbed off on Freddie in giving him good taste in soaps. She grinned as she found she particularly liked the body wash that she had smelled off of him several times over the last month.<p>

* * *

><p>About fifteen minutes later or so, Jade was vigorously drying her raven locks with the blue towel that matched Freddie's blue robe she was wearing as she approached the clothes drawer. She stopped at the clothes drawers and noticed a small picture frame sitting on top of the dresser. She threw the towel over her shoulder and brushed her slightly damped hair away from her face. She allowed herself a small smile as she picked up the picture that Freddie had took of the two of them the first day that he came back to L.A. In the picture, she was standing close to the brown eye teenager on his left side and wore a barely perceived smile on her face. The Tech-Producer was grinning with an arm around her shoulders and she allowed him the friendly gesture on that day. Her smile grew larger as she thought back on that day and touched the picture with her fingertips.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Thanks for reading so far. I'm going to try to post on this story on Fridays or Saturdays. I hope I enticed you to see how this unlikely pair got together and to see if they can keep it that way.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far (as short as it is at the moment of course). I have another installment for you and hope you enjoy this little exploration of this unique pairing. Thanks to all that have read and review and please spread the word of this story's existence if you are so incline.**

Chapter 3

Black Box Theater  
>Hollywood Arts High School<br>Los Angeles, CA

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Jade West had her arms crossed as she leaned back in one of the grey metal chairs that were set up in a scattered pattern in the audience portion of the Black Box Theater. She wore a deeper frown than usual as she eyed the other students that were milling about and still entering the theater. She recognized only a few of the students as most were from other grade levels and the rest didn't even go to the school.

She never gave much thought to that blue poster always stuck up on Sikowitz's wall during class, but just like the other students in the room, Jade had applied to the Hollywood Arts Summer in Film workshop to spend at least part of her summer. They were paying the students a little stipend and a little extra spending money didn't hurt either as she hoped to use the workshop to distract her from her life. All they were doing for the moment on their first day of the workshop was socializing and waiting for the first instructor to show up and all their happiness turned her stomach.

Some of the other teenagers had approached her to have a seat beside her, but she would flash them a glare and they would move away quickly from their point of view, a hostile teenager. She had to glare at Sinjin twice to get him to leave her alone. She rolled her eyes at the prospect of having to deal with Sinjin almost constantly for the next month.

As the raven haired teenager tried to tune out all the happy camaraderie of the teenagers excited for the program, she caught a glance of the bottom half of a male come into her peripheral vision on her right side and stand between her and the neighboring chair.

She took a deep breath and spoke in a cold tone, "No, you can't sit beside me."

"Are you sure?" a familiar male voice asked in a lighthearted tone.

She turned her head and looked up to see a brown eye smiling teenager. Her frown vanished and was replaced with one of surprise as she sat up straight in her chair. She blinked and mouthed for a moment before she was able to get out her question, "Freddie?"

"Hey Jade," Freddie Benson replied with a warm smile. He wore a button up blue and white flannel patterned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show off his arms, a strap across his chest from his right shoulder to his left hip from his book bag and dark blue jeans.

She took a moment to process that he was standing beside her. "What are you doing here?"

He motioned to the seat beside her and gave him a boyish grin. "If I answer your question, may I have a seat?"

The corner of the raven haired teenager's mouth rose as counter to his grin then she replied, "Okay, a seat for an answer."

The brown eye teenager took off his book bag and took the metal seat beside her then laid his book bag at his feet. "Thank you."

She gave him a nod and asked, "So, why are you here?"

He shifted in his seat to face her and replied with a soft smile. "I signed up for the workshop."

She raised an eyebrow and asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice, "You're in the workshop?"

He shrugged a shoulder and replied nonchalantly, "Yep."

She snorted out a breath and grinned, "Why? Why come down from Seattle to do this?"

She watched him take a deep breath and she could see that he was contemplating an answer. After a moment, he looked into her eyes and hesitantly replied, "I needed a change in scenery for the summer."

His response dampened her smile then nodded her head to accept his answer. "Ok… but how did you get into it? I knew they were accepting students from all over L.A., but I didn't know they were accepting people from out of state."

Freddie let out a breath and grinned, but it looked to her that the smile was leaning towards the embarrassment side. "I ah, was originally going to use my association with iCarly to impress them to get a little wavier and let me sign up. Instead, they did me one better: they didn't just let me in the workshop, but they're paying for a nice little hotel room to stay during this thing. They're going to use my name to promote the workshop in the future in return, so I don't mind."

She laughed softly for a moment before asking, "Wow, using your name as a meal ticket?"

Freddie leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees then cleared his throat. He refused to meet her eyes as he replied, "I think giving up a little of my self-respect was worth getting out of Seattle for a little while."

Jade let her mouth drop over a little and blinked for a moment as she realized that she may have just offended him. What surprised her was that she was bothered by the possibility and she found herself reaching out and patting him on the left shoulder. "Freddie, I'm sorry, I was just joking."

Freddie lifted his head and waved her off in what she perceived to be a good natured gesture. "It's fine, it's just… I just don't want to get into it."

Jade cracked a smile relieved and dropped her hand from his shoulder. She shook her head as she replied, "It's none of my business."

He returned with a nod and a silence formed between the two for a moment and neither was sure if it was a comfortable silence or not. Freddie was the first to break the silence with clearing his voice in an apprehensive manner. "Ah… do you mind if I hang out with you? A familiar face in a crowd of strangers?"

She grinned and met his eyes. "Nope, you can keep Sinjin away?"

Freddie chuckled. "As long as you keep the fangirls away from me. They can be rough. They nearly tore me apart at WebiCon… though I can't say that wasn't a little bit of a thrill."

She joined him in shared laughter at the thought of having to keep the girls away from him. She realized that he might need her 'protection' for the first few days of the workshop before the novelty of him being there wore off as she caught some of glances from the other girls whispering to each other and not doing a very good job of hiding pointing at him. She also thought it might be nice to hang with someone that she didn't have to deal with knowing what was going on with her at the moment and wasn't giving her false sympathy (damn you Vega) or trying to hit on her (damn you too Sinjin) after what happened. Besides she knew she was quite good at keeping the girls away from a man and doing that would allow her to take out her frustration on those that wanted to chase him. After calming from their laughter, she replied in a friendly manner, "Deal."

They both smiled as they relaxed leaning back in their respective chairs. Freddie took a few moments to look around to see if he recognized anyone else in the room, maybe others of the group. One absence struck him quickly and he turned his head to look at the raven haired teenager to ask, "So where's Beck? I don't see him anywhere."

Jade's neck and shoulder muscles tightened at the mentioning of Beck's name. She looked forward towards the stage area as to not meet his curious gaze she knew he was directing at her and crossed her arms over her chest again in an effort to put her best 'Jade look' she could muster. She swallowed down the suddenly formed lump in her throat then let out a breath as brushed away some hair that had fallen in her face then crossed her arms. In a curt tone, she replied, "He's not here… I don't want to get into it."

She felt a soft pat on the top of her fingertips that were poking out from her crossed arms and resting on her right bicep. She turned her head to see the Tech-Producer giving her a respectful nod then smiled warmly at her as he replied, "It's none of my business."

The tension that she had felt from the mentioning of Beck's name relaxed as he warmly gazed at her with his boyish smile. This was the time she'd say something sarcastic or mean, but he had the same disarming quality as André that usually prevented her from being mean to him the majority of the time. So she spoke softly the first thing that popped into her head, "Thank you."

His smile grew bigger. "You're welcome."

A few moments later Sikowitz entered the theater with several other instructors from the school and the attendees started grabbing and taking seats. Once he reached the front of the stage area, he spread his arms wide and called out, "Good morning all my eager actors! I know you are all eager to start off your _magical summer_ as the flyer says, so the first thing we're going to do is get through all the 'house keeping' stuff on how the workshop is going to work for the next four weeks then we're start pairing off and grouping people off…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Over the course of the next twenty minutes, Sikowitz and the other instructors in turn explained how the workshop would be conducted and that at the end they would be putting what they learned into making a short film. They would all be learning the basics on all parts of filmmaking for about the first two weeks before they were separated into groups to focus on the particular area they wanted to work on that aspect of the film. Sikowitz made it a point to emphasis that the acting parts would be given on a competitive basis as to prevent everyone from just wanting to do the acting portion of the film.

Sikowitz took center stage once again to wrap up the introduction, "So in closing, I'd like to inform you of my philosophy: Life is theater, film is art, and television is furniture."

A student in the back called out with a raised hand, "What's the internet?"

Sikowitz cleared his throat and rolled his eyes before answering in a sarcastic manner, "A place where people have too much free time and think they can actually act. It's not really even furniture; more like… that bad lamp you can't figure out where to put in your living room."

Jade frowned and spared a glance towards Freddie as she wondered how he thought about that statement. He was actually wearing a smirk on his face before he raised his hand and shouted, "I'm actually quite proud of what I've help put online and a lot of people think it is pretty good."

Sikowitz blinked shifted his head to get a clear view of the teenager to confirm for his own eyes it was really the iCarly Tech-Producer. "Freddie?"

The brown eye teenager grinned as he replied with a hint of challenge in his voice, "Yes, it's me. Freddie from iCarly and we work very hard to put on a very good show. I'm willing to compare what we've amateurs have made against whatever your school has put on and see which one is the bad lamp."

The other students that hadn't realized or recognized Freddie immediately looked at the iCarly Tech-Producer with shock; others looked excited to see him.

A soft smirk formed on the raven haired teenager's face seeing the Tech-Producer standing up for his work. The irony wasn't lost on her that Freddie was demonstrating the first rule Sikowitz had them learn through the Bird Scene play: trusting yourself in your performance or in this case, his production work.

The balding teacher gave a nervous laugh to Jade's eyes; he was quite embarrassed at lumping iCarly with his statement of the internet. "Well, there are exceptions to every saying."

Freddie leaned back in his chair and replied with a hint of amusement in his voice, "I'm glad you agree."

Sikowitz clapped his hands together. "Yes well… okay, we're going to give you a few minutes to socialize and figure out who you'd like to be paired with or grouped because you are going to be working with them for the next four weeks… let's just hope you don't kill each other," he finished with a nervous laugh. The balding teacher then walked of the stage area to speak with some of the other instructors standing off to the side.

The twenty or so students immediately turned in their seats or got up to mingle with each other to find partners or groups. Several girls finally started approaching Freddie, but Jade leaned over in her seat and latched onto his arm for a moment and gave them all a harsh glare. They stopped in their tracks and a few took a few steps back. She kept her glare and her hold on Freddie for a few more moments until they all started going about their business.

Once Jade released his arm, Freddie laughed out, "I guess I know who I'm partnering with."

Jade smirked and gave him a mischievous look. "You don't know how lucky you are."

He replied with an equal smirk, "You don't know how lucky you are… until I show you how to make the camera your best friend."

"Oh? You're going to teach me how to look just as good on camera as Carly and Sam?"

The smirk left his face in an instant. He cleared his throat and tried to put on a grin, but she saw how he had to force his expression. "Yeah, I am and I guess you're going to teach me a few acting points."

She realized in an instant why he was here now: 'a change in scenery' really meant he wanted to get away from Carly and Sam for the summer. She forced her own smile as she thought on why she was here and realized that she wasn't the only one running away from life for a little bit. She was able to reply with that false smile a few moments later, "Yes I will."

They looked to each other this time without a doubt in uncomfortable silence. That didn't last long as a lanky curly haired teenager approached the pair. Freddie immediately turned and displayed a smirk on his face at seeing Sinjin approach. He shook his and moved his arm to rest on the top of the chair back behind Jade's shoulders. "Nope, sorry. She's taken."

Sinjin frowned as he caught the look from Freddie and the annoyed look displayed on the actress' face. He walked away with his head down until he met a short brunette smiling at him that seemed to pick up his spirits.

The brown eye teenager shook his head. He thought he recognized the girl from Seattle of all places, but it was probably just a coincidence in appearance with another Hollywood Arts student. He looked to Jade and commented, "He's got it bad for you doesn't he?"

Jade let out a groan and rolled her eyes. "That's one way of putting it."

"Well that's understandable. You are quite attractive, but I don't need to tell you that… I can sympathize with his situation… I was kind of like him a few years ago with someone."

She watched him for a moment as his expression turned from one of initial playful jiving to one of sourness by the end of his sentence. She licked her lips for a moment before taking a guess, "So Creddie's really real? Not just something the fans talk about?"

Freddie took a deep breath and turned his head for a moment. "_Was_… from my side, but… that's going into what I don't want to go into."

She slightly frowned then replied, "Okay, you don't have to get into it with me."

He looked back to her and gave her a relieved smile. "Thanks Jade."

She returned with a soft smirk and spoke with a careless tone, "Don't mention it."

He held his gaze on the raven haired teenager for a few more moments. She raised an eyebrow as he kept his smiling expression. "What?"

He grinned as he replied, "Jade, the new hair color…"

She frowned and gritted out slowly, "What about it?" She had made it a point on her Slap page that she didn't want anyone commenting on her new coloring, but she doubt he read it or even if he did read it, understood the warning behind the message.

Freddie gave a small smile. "I know you wrote that you didn't want people commenting on your new coloring, but… I think it looks great on you."

Her frown turned into a neutral expression and she raised an eyebrow. Surprise would be the term she would use to describe her feelings of him keeping up with her page. "Ah… thanks."

"You're welcome," he replied with a soft laugh.

Jade gave a relieved smile as she relaxed back in her chair again and feeling his arm still resting across the top of the chair's back and her shoulder blades. This time she knew they were sitting in a comfortable silence and she didn't even mind the arm around the back of her chair.

She caught him from the corner of her eye sparing her a smile. Usually someone smiling at her like that would annoy the crap out of her, but not his smile. It actually brought on a sense of curiosity. That was not anymore of a satisfying feeling either, so she asked, "You're giving me that look again."

Freddie kept a hold on the back of her chair as he leaned forward to dig for something in his book bag. He smirked as he found what he was searching for inside. He pulled out a sleek silver digital camera and held it up for her to see. "How about a new picture? Something to keep as a memento of our first day in the workshop?"

She shook her head and gave him a grin, but it didn't hold any kind of sarcasm or mischievous intent. "Okay, I guess I can spare you a new picture, but don't expect me to smile."

Freddie laughed and shook his head. "Whatever you want to do Jade, whatever you want to do."

They sat up in their seats and he lifted his arm to wrap around her shoulders and held up his camera. Freddie grinned as she let the smallest of smiles form on her face. The next moment he snapped the photo.

* * *

><p>Jade smiled as she sat the picture frame down back on the dresser drawer as she finished reminiscing about that day. Her smile grew bigger as an idea came to the forefront of her mind. She pulled open the drawer to find a pair of his boxers then made her way over to his closet to find a particular shirt. She found the shirt in almost an instant due to his organizing skills and took it off the hanger. She took a moment to look at it and realized that she really liked this shirt.<p>

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I hope you all have a great weekend and see you next Friday.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I have another installment for you. Thank you to all that have taken the time to review this story. I hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 5

Freddie Benson's Hotel Room

Extended Stay America

6531 S. Sepulveda Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90045

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Freddie had been quite happy with the nice kitchen included in the room with a full refrigerator and stove during his stay so far. It had come in quite handy over having to eat takeout everyday. He was especially happy with it right now as he was finishing preparing breakfast for the two of them over the stovetop as the coffee was just finishing in the coffee maker. He had seen her get cranky in the morning if she didn't have her coffee. Adorably cranky as he thought back on the last three weeks or so, but cranky nonetheless and he didn't want her cranky this morning, not after last night.

He laid out two plates on the counter and divided the eggs onto the plates from the pan. Balancing two pans on the stove was a little tricky, but he followed with the pancakes and bacon a few moments later on from their respective pans. He set the pans aside and turned off the burners then took the plates over to the small wooden dinning room table in the corner of the living room.

Now all he had to do was wait for her.

"Hey?" a soft feminine voice called out behind him.

Freddie turned around just a few steps away from the table to see the raven haired teenager in his blue and white flannel patterned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and the hem that went just past her rear and wearing a pair of his blue boxers. She had left a few buttons undone that allowed a nice hint (just in his humbled opinion) of her cleavage. He took a few up and down glances of her to take in the sight for memory. She had taken out her eyebrow ring and nose stud, the blue hair extensions were out of her hair and all of her makeup was off her face and she was absolutely beautiful to his eyes.

Jade apparently realized what he was doing and smirked at him with a mischievous look in her eyes. She took the last few steps to stand right in front of him with barely a few inches separating the two. In a purring tone, she whispered, "You said borrow anything and I really like this shirt."

He shook his head slightly so he could bring his mind to focus on what she was saying. "Move over black, blue is definitely your color," he replied with a hint of laughter to his voice. She laughed softly for a moment and looked away. She looked back a few seconds later with a half smirk playing on her lips.

The brown eye boy kept a small smile on his face as he looked at the raven haired girl who returned with a small smile of her own. They stood there in silence for a moment as their breakfast sat on the table ready to be eaten. Freddie's smile grew bigger and he tilted his head to the side slightly. "This reminds me of one of your videos on theSlap. You said, don't ask to kiss you, if the moment feels right then kiss you, so—" He leaned forward and captured her lips softly as his hands gently rested on her hips. She returned the kiss just as much of an easy manner as she slipped her hands across his abdomen, up over his chest then to cup the back of his neck and brush the pads of her thumbs across his jaw line just under his ears.

He took his time with the kiss as he intended for it to be a sign of affection than the passionate ones that they traded last night. She was apparently in no rush either as she knew how to pull back slightly then reestablished contact in a tender way as for him not to miss her presence. He felt a momentary prick of jealousy for Beck as she must have refined her skills with him over the last three years, but that was swept aside as he realized that she was the one kissing him at the moment and not the longer haired teenager.

He pulled back a few moments later and rested his forehead against her forehead. He watched as she kept her eyes closed and licked her lips for a moment.

In a hushed whisper, she commented, "You have great timing Benson."

He grinned in return then whispered, "I'm glad I didn't disappoint you West, but just as a back up plan, I did make you breakfast. It's not a sandwich, but I think you'll enjoy it."

Jade tried her best not to laugh, but she let out a soft snort. She looked up to meet his eyes for a moment then looked to the prepared breakfast on the small square table design for only four people with one side for each occupant.

She glanced back to the brown eye teenager and asked with a hint of curiosity, "Coffee?"

"You know I would have you coffee," he answered with a boyish grin as he made a quick trip to the coffeemaker. Freddie returned to the table and sat a mug down in front of her then filled her cup from the coffee pitcher. After grabbing himself a glass of orange juice, he took a seat on her right so they were facing cattycorner to one another.

They ate their respective breakfast in peaceful silence for the most part over the next fifteen minutes. The silence was only broken when Jade stated the obvious, "We need to talk."

Freddie gave a slight nod in agreement and replied, "Yes we do."

She glanced down at her plate for a moment before meeting his eyes. "As you could tell… that was the first time—"

"It was for me too…"

Jade gave a soft nod. "So…"

"So…"

The raven haired teenager looked to her plate and started moving what was left of her eggs around with her fork. "Has this just turned into some summer fling for us?"

"I'd rather cut my heart out with a rusty spoon before I leave you believing that," Freddie replied with absolute conviction in his voice.

She looked up to see his soft, but very confident eyes. She remembered back on the first time he had used that phrase when they were in the janitor's closet at school and how he used it to punch through that wall she had put up. She asked in a confused voice, "Then you want to be my boyfriend?"

He put on his boyish grin then replied, "Is that an offer?"

She tilted her head to the side and replied in a stern and somewhat irritated voice, "Freddie."

Freddie let out a sigh through his nose and studied the polished wooden table their plates rested. He spoke in a somber voice that turned to one of hurt at the end of him speaking, "Neither one of us thought this was going to happen… I certainly didn't after leaving Seattle and I wasn't looking for anything, but I don't regret it or anything over the last three weeks and I don't regret last night. The only thing I could regret about last night is if I hurt you."

She reached over and gently palmed the top of his hand. She held on to his hand until he looked up to meet her eyes and even then she didn't let go as she replied softly, "You didn't hurt me."

"That's a relief…" Freddie took a deep breath and asked in the most sincere way he thought possible, "What do you want?"

"I asked you first," she countered with a raised eyebrow.

He snorted out a laugh. "Fair enough… I want you to be happy for starters. Maybe you can find a little happiness with me as I've found some with you?"

His statement shocked her as other than Beck, no one really did like being around her for any great length of time. They mostly tolerated her and she did the same for them. She knew that wasn't entirely true in regards with Cat, but Jade thought at times that the redhead simply didn't know better not to like hanging with her… or maybe she was just smarter and more compassionate than Jade gave the redhead credit. "You've been happy hanging out with me?"

"You haven't with me? And don't say you can't be happy, because I know better with that smile of yours. I know you liked beating me at Gears of War when we first started playing and more important, I didn't get upset with you for it."

She shook her head and bit her bottom lip softly. _He's such a charmer. Damn, and I thought the girls at my school were stupid. The ones at Ridgeway must be brain dead not to have at least tried with him_. She tilted her head to the side and gave him a small smile. She would have preferred to deny it, but she couldn't argue with his logic, so she replied, "I have been happy and you've cheered me up when it was the last thing I wanted. I should hate you for it."

"Hating me is the last thing on your mind when it comes to me, especially after last night," he replied confidently.

She took a deep breath and turned her attention to her plate. She stared at it for a few seconds before whispering, "I can be mean. I can be really mean. You've seen that."

Freddie shrugged a shoulder. "I can deal with _your_ meanness and I've been told I can be a nub, but I don't think either are insurmountable odds for us."

It was her turn to snort out a laugh then her expression turned serious once more. "What about Carly? How do I know that if Carly came walking in that door right now and said 'Please, for me' and said she'd give you a chance, you wouldn't go running right back to her?"

"What about Beck? How do I know that if Beck said he never stopped loving you, you wouldn't go running straight back to him?"

She blinked. She was at a complete lost for words as she realized she was in the same position he was in more ways than one. "Wow… we're two messed up people aren't we?"

Freddie shook his head with a soft smile before replying, "We loved… we loved with everything we had that I think few people could truly appreciate and understand and we lost and… we've hurt. That's what happens: we get messed up for a while, but so what?"

She looked to him with a perplexed expression as the brown eye teenager continued, "I don't think either one of us is ready for a relationship, but what does that matter? Why do we have to put our lives on hold for one more second? I'm willing to try if you are, but if you're not… still no regrets, just my deepest gratitude and the knowledge that I was with a girl that showed me a little kindness and a little love and that I had hoped I had done the same for you."

She stared into his eyes for a few moments and they matched the sincerity of his words. She leaned over and grabbed him by the cheeks and pulled him into a deep kiss. He was caught off guard for a moment, but quickly recovered by grabbing her waist. He returned the kiss with just as much fervor as this kiss was not just to show a little affection.

After a few moments of trading kisses that started having their tongues start meeting, he released his right hand from off her hip and absently pushed their plates to the other side of the table. He then grabbed the left side her hip in a firm grip with his right hand joining on the other side. She laughed in surprise into their kiss at him lifting her from her seat and unto a soft sitting position on the table.

The brown eye teenager pulled his lips from hers and started kissing down her left jaw line until he reached her ear. He nibbled on the end of her earlobe for a few moments before kissing down her neck. He trailed soft kisses down her pale neck as she purred from the contact. His kisses then started traveling down her exposed skin from the open collar and first few buttons left undone of his shirt. He kissed until he just reached her cleavage and leaving a soft kiss there as she ran her fingers through his hair. He started his kissed back up and on the other side of her neck and taking considerable pleasure teasing her pulse point and exciting several primal sounds from the raven haired teenager.

He finally started back across her other jaw line and found those soft pink lips that he enjoyed last night. His hand slipped under the hem of the button shirt and started messaging each side of her abdomen as her hands played with his hairline on the back of his neck.

There was a knock at the door and the pair both growled into the kiss to express their mutual annoyance at being interrupted. Freddie was able to pull away from her and grinned regretfully. "Just give me one second." He got up from his seat and made his way the short distance to the door. He took a moment to look through the peephole to see who was on the other side of the door. He looked to Jade and shook his head in disgust.

Jade's brow furled and she was an interesting expression in contrast for her usual pale cheeks being quiet flushed along with her neck. She asked with obvious irritation in her voice, "What?"

"I can't believe it," he sighed in disgust. He opened the door just enough to stick his head through and not much else. He had no intention for his visitor to get a glance inside the room, so he used his body to cover the gap between the edge of the door and the door frame.

"Hey Freddie," Carly whispered with a bashful smile on her face.

Freddie smirked and replied in a slightly sarcastic voice, "Hi Carly." He shut the door in her face and her mouth gaped open as she heard him lock the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Freddie Benson's Hotel Room

Extended Stay America

6531 S. Sepulveda Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90045

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

It was around one in the afternoon as Freddie opened the door to his hotel room with his book bag on his back and a plastic bag in his hand filled with carryout from the Wok Star Chinese Restaurant. He allowed Jade to enter first and she immediately started scanning the room with her eyes at the good size hotel room as she entered and headed to the living room. "Wow, this is a nice little place they set you up in for the summer."

They passed by the kitchen area and stopped at a small table just behind the counter that separated the kitchen area from the living room area. "I think so," he replied as he sat their takeout onto the small square table that served as the dinning room table. They had about an hour or so to eat before they had to return to Hollywood Arts for another two hours of the workshop for the day. As Freddie started pulling out their takeout, he pointed over, "I even have a separated bedroom instead of the studio arrangement."

"So this really is going to be a home away from home for you?"

"Yep and I intend to enjoy every moment of it," he laughed as he sat out her order beside his intended seat.

Jade noticed that he sat her and his meal in seats cattycorner instead of across, but didn't comment. "Then why are you hanging out with me instead of all the happy go lucky people that want to jump you for being the famous Freddie Benson?"

"Maybe I actually like nice girls that'll treat me as Freddie instead of Freddie 'iCarly' Benson," he replied as he took his seat.

"I'm not nice," she replied with a mischievous smile as she took the seat to his right.

He let out a soft chuckle. "Then I actually like mean girls that will treat me as Freddie, satisfied?"

"You think you can satisfy me?"

Freddie chuckled then leaned over so that their faces were just inches apart. "Is that a challenge?"

He wasn't intimidated with her remark or invading her personal space as others would be and for reasons she couldn't fathom at the moment, she didn't mind. Jade smirked and narrowed her gaze at the brown eye teenager. "So there is a ladies' man under that geeky persona you put up?"

Freddie frowned and cleared his throat as he pulled away from her to sit up straight in his seat. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean for my joke to come across as flirting with you, especially since Beck in the picture. I would never try to break anyone up if I was interested in a person… contrary to what Gibby might think." He snorted out and shook his head. "What a hypocrite."

She wanted to laugh and cry at the absurdity of him trying to be such a gentleman. Laugh that he was apologizing for the possibility of flirting with her and cry that he wouldn't if he wanted to because of Beck when he didn't even know… she shook that thought away as another one came to the forefront of her mind. She gave him a small smile that surprised herself as she replied, "I was wrong, not a ladies' man, but a gentleman."

He gave a relieved smile. "I try. I fail sometimes, like with Shelby Marx, but I try."

She released a small chuckle herself as she replied, "That's far more then a lot of other guys."

"Thanks… so how did you get us the free food?"

Jade let out a breath grateful that they were steering to a safer subject. "I wrote a play and Mrs. Lee produced it. I wrote a part in for her daughter, so she got to perform. Mrs. Lee made her money back and then some in producing my play, so she gives me free takeout."

"I'm glad for our sake, I'm starving," he replied as he opened his box of noodles then broke apart his chopsticks. He fumbled a few times trying to hold the sticks and grab a noodle until Jade reached over and helped him with the proper grip with the chopsticks. Freddie did his best to suppress the feeling to blush from the soft contact of her hands. For someone that came across so fierce, she had a delicate touch with her fingertips that grazed the top of his fingers, his knuckles and the back of his hand.

He gave her thankful nod then started on his meal. After swallowing some of the noodles he was able to get into his mouth only with a slight fumble of the chopsticks, he commented, "I'd like a chance to read your play."

Jade smirked as she poked her chopsticks into her box. "It's kind of morbid. The original is her drowning in her own tears in the well before she was resuscitated."

Freddie laughed. "Wouldn't she just float to the top if the well was being filled with water by her own tears?"

Jade frowned and tilted her head to the side.

Freddie laughed louder and playfully nudged her arm with his elbow. "I'm just kidding with you. I know it has to be great."

That genuine happy laugh would have normally started to grate on her nerves, but it didn't. It wasn't forced or silly or ridiculous laugh… it reminded her of Beck's laugh when he was with her. The thought just caused her to frown.

"So where is everyone? I was hoping to at least see Cat and André… and you of course," he finished with a grin.

Jade shook away the threatening sadness and smirked in response to his inadvertent flirting. He held his gaze on her and she sighed as he expected an answer, "Tori convinced them to go on some all expense paid trip to some county whose name I can't even pronounce to perform for their president, chancellor, whatever. They should be back in about a week or so."

"Why didn't you go with them?"

Jade looked down into her box of food. "That's kind of personal."

"I didn't mean to pry," he replied in a regretful tone.

She shook her head then looked up at him. "No, it's just the expected thing to ask. I guess that's something I just don't want to get into either."

Freddie gave a respective nod.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as they continued to eat. Jade spoke up since she couldn't stand the silence anymore, "So they're going to teach us some camera work this afternoon… oh goody. We have to sit through two hours of techno-babble camera work which only you and Sinjin will probably understand."

Freddie tilted his head to the side and gave a slight frown.

Jade pursed her lips as she felt a flush of embarrassment run up her neck and cheeks. "Sorry, no offense intended, it just—none of it makes any sense when that start going on with all that gibberish."

Freddie raised a finger. "I think I have a solution to the boredom and their 'gibberish'. Let's finish lunch and I'll show you before we have to get back to school."

Jade gave a slight frown before replying slowly, "Okay."

A few minutes later after finishing their lunch, Jade was sitting on Freddie's bed while the Tech-Producer was rummaging through a case on his dresser. A moment later, Freddie pulled out his old workhorse camera he had used on iCarly for nearly the last four years then walked over to sit beside her on the bed. He leaned over and showed the camera to the raven haired teenager. "I know it isn't as fancy as some of stuff we're going to be using, but I've used this thing to bring iCarly to life and I can go over the fundamentals with you with it so when they start talking all the techno-babble won't overwhelm you."

Jade frowned at the brown eye teenager and replied in a cold and irritated voice, "I'm not stupid Freddie."

He shocked her by giving her a warm smile. "I know you're not, but you're not going to understand what they are talking about if you don't know the vocabulary they are going to be using to explain it to you. That's why people get frustrated and complain when we don't explain stuff in plain English, but the thing is we are explaining it in plain English, they just don't know the vocabulary that was invented out of necessity to convey complex ideas where there weren't other words already to explain the idea. I don't know if they are going to take the time to do that and I don't want you to struggle because of what they fail to do."

Jade blinked and was lost for words. He hadn't came back with something sarcastic _Tori_, or stupid _Cat_ or something just to placate her _Beck_ as all her other 'friends' would have, but with an intelligent answer that didn't insult her. "Oh… that makes perfect sense… thanks."

Freddie gave her a soft chuckle. "You're welcome." He looked back to the camera that was now resting on both their thighs touching. "So, the first thing…"

After taking about twenty minutes to go over all the 'techno-babble', Jade felt she had a better handle on some of the basics of camera work or at least enough not to feel liked a complete fool when they started explaining it within the next half hour at the school.

As Freddie was putting away his camera on the dresser, Jade asked still sitting on the bed, "So how are they doing iCarly without all your equipment?"

His jaw clenched tight for a moment before answering, but refused to turn around, "I don't know and I really don't care at the moment. I just didn't want Sam to break into my room and rob me blind."

Jade formed an O shape with her mouth for a moment then looked down at the floor. His tone and the bitterness in his voice caught her off guard as it was such a contrast from what she had seen of him on the show and what little contact that they had really had in hindsight. She realized other then the few hours after the party at Kenan Thompson's house and the few hours today, she really didn't know him that well, but for some reason she wanted to know him.

"She'd really do that?"

Freddie sighed then turned around with a tired expression. "Yep… she probably took a hammer to the rest of my stuff just to let me know that I should have left my equipment for them."

Jade's jaw slacked for a moment then her brow furled as she asked with a hint of disbelief, but with a tremor of anger, "She'd take a hammer to your stuff?"

Freddie shrugged a shoulder as he leaned against the dresser. "She's done it before. She has no problem destroying what belongs to me: a lamp for the show, my clothing during gym class, a dozen other things I'd care not to mention."

Jade remembered when she took a hammer to stuff for the fun to see them break, but she was five or six years old child, not in her late teens. "What does Carly do about it?

Freddie snorted out a laugh and shook his head. "Nothing, Carly does nothing, but just smiles and acts like it's all fine. It's perfectly alright for Sam to do that to me, because we're 'friends'."

"Sam doesn't sound like your friend… neither does Carly."

Freddie raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. "That's because Sam's not… and I'm not pretending otherwise anymore. She says she hates me and I'm just going to take her at her word. That's probably the most honest thing that woman has ever said to me and she's quite proud at her ability to lie."

Jade gave him a sympathetic look which surprised her with giving him the look, but more surprisingly actually caring.

Freddie then waved her off. "Anyway, I've gotten far more into that than I wanted. I don't want you to have to listen to my personal problems and we got to get back to the school."

Jade glanced at the digital clock on the night stand that showed they had about fifteen minutes to get back to the school before the workshop started up again. She looked back to him and nodded, "It's okay… I asked after all. Thanks for telling me the truth and not just feeding me a bunch of chizz."

Freddie snorted out again, but a genuine smile formed on his face. "Thanks for listening." He pushed off from the dresser and walked over and offered his hand to the raven haired teenager. She smirked for a moment, but accepted his hand for the unnecessary help off the bed. His grip was surprisingly warm and soft as he held her hand for a moment. As soon as he released her hand and led the way back into the rest of the apartment, she found she missed the brief contact.

Once the reached the living room, Jade threw her Gears of War bag strap over her shoulder as he pulled his book bag strap over his head then gave her a brief smile. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's make some movie magic," she replied half sarcastically, but with a hint that she just might really enjoy the rest of the afternoon with the brown eye teenager.

**Author's note: I hope you enjoyed. Just to reiterate, this is a non-linear narrative story and apparently not all is well with the iCarly trio. The question is why? See you next Friday for the next installment.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. I'm glad to see people are enjoying this little experiment of a crossover pairing. I'm giving you three chapters today, because Chapter 7 is a little shorter than usual. If you enjoy review, if you don't, review anyway. Thanks.**

Chapter 7

Freddie's Hotel Room  
>Saturday, July 23, 2011<p>

Carly started knocking loudly on the other side of the door and calling out, "Freddie open up! We have to talk."

Freddie sighed loudly and let his muscular shoulders slump. The brown eye teenager stared that the raven haired teenager for a moment. He shook his head before speaking, "I'm not dealing with her right now. I don't want her to stand there and judge me and just maybe I don't want her to spoil _this_ right now."

The raven haired teenager let out a sigh. She frowned as she got off the dinning table. "I'll deal with her," she replied in a harsh tone.

"You'll what?"

Her only reply was a brief kiss on his cheek as she passed the brown eye teenager on her way to the door. She opened the light brown door and rested the side of her head against the open door edge. "Hi Carly," Jade greeted her with a curt tone.

"Ja—Jade?" the brunette puttered out at seeing the unexpected face.

The paler teenager replied flippantly, "Yes, it's me. What do you want?" She eyed the brunette as she poked just the tip of her tongue out past her lips and licked out the corner of her mouth and thumbed over her bottom lip with the pad of her right thumb. "You're interrupting my dessert."

Carly looked Jade up and down then blinked in horror. There was a hint of flush still on Jade's cheeks and neck that contrast sharply with the rest of her pale skin. She realized that Jade was wearing men's boxers (which of course she assumed were Freddie's) and she immediately recognized the shirt the raven hair girl was wearing: Freddie's blue and white plaid pattern shirt. It was the same one he was wearing when Sam had kissed him at the school lock-in a month ago. Her mind was racing: _Freddie's underwear, Freddie's shirt, she looks flushed and she's here first thing in the morning… oh my God, what did you do Freddie?_

She swallowed down that horror and straightened her posture. She spoke in a calmer and more confident voice than she actually felt, "I wanted to talk to Freddie."

Jade didn't bat an eye as she replied in a dismissive tone, "Well, Freddie doesn't want to talk to you right now."

Carly frowned and her eyes narrowed on the slightly taller teenager. She countered with a more forceful tone, "I need to talk to him. He has ignored my emails, texts and phone calls and he _ran away_. He can't keep dodging me forever." Carly tried to take a step forward and try to slip past the raven haired girl.

Jade threw out her hand and grabbed the door frame to emphasize the point that Carly was not going to enter the hotel room. She glared at the brunette and whispered coldly, "He doesn't have to talk to you. You've made your feelings about him quite clear and now he's doing the same. _Go away._"

"You can't make me leave," the brunette huffed out and crossed her arms.

Jade gave her a coy smirk. "Yes I can. I usually don't stoop down to a physical fight, because I prefer a far longer lasting way that makes people regret crossing me, but I guess I can make an exception and kick your little brat of an ass. God knows you'd deserve it for what you've put him through."

Carly swallowed nervously as she watched Jade give her a predatory look with her own eyes. "Freddie wouldn't let you hit me."

"Like you wouldn't let Sam hit Freddie? Oops, you do let that happen." Jade frowned and gave Carly a cold look as she leaned forward. She whispered out with a soft, but harsh tone, "You tell that bitch if she lays a hand on my boyfriend again and I'll teach her real pain. He can't hit her _back_ since he's a guy, but we have the same internal plumbing, so I will mess her up and put her into a different kind of hospital… _then_ I'll start with the real payback."

Carly blinked. Jade's threat did send a chill down Carly's spine, but what really caught her attention was what Jade described Freddie to her. She asked timidly, "Your boyfriend?"

"Yes, my _boyfriend_." She waved her off with the back of her right hand. "Like I said, you're interrupting my dessert after breakfast, so why don't you move along… if you know what's good for you."

"How is Freddie your boyfriend? He's only been here three weeks. I thought you were with Beck," the brunette rattled off trying to make sense of all the new information that was just dumped in her lap.

Jade shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah, well… things change. Goodbye." The raven haired girl then shut the door in her face.

Jade locked both locks on the door then turned to face a surprised faced Freddie standing just inside the living room. She cleared her throat as she approached and looked down at the floor when she reached standing right in front of him. She was having the same reaction of becoming bashful with Beck during those times he would get serious about telling that she went too far and say he wouldn't speak with her for the rest of the day if she didn't chill.

The brown eye teenager gave her his boyish smirk and asked with a hint of amusement in his voice, "So, I'm your boyfriend?"

Jade took a deep breath before meeting those caring brown eyes. There was a little bit of fear that laced her voice, but she pushed on anyway in a soft whisper, "Maybe I don't want to put my life on hold for one more second. A big part of me still loves Beck, just like you love Carly, but… you're willing to try, why not me?"

Freddie gave a hesitant look as he replied, "I don't want to pressure you into anything or feel you're obligated—"

Jade frowned and narrowed her gaze on him. "Oh shut up and stop being such a gentleman," she snapped before wrapping her arms around the back of his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss.

He blinked for a moment before closing his eyes and returning the kiss just as eagerly and softly taking her hips in his hands. They pulled their lips apart a moment later and Freddie asked softly, "So… pick up where we left off?"

Jade captured his lips again and grinned into the kiss then whispered out seductively as she pulled away for a moment, "My thought exactly." She pulled an arm from around the back of his neck and trailed her fingers down his well built arm until she reached his hand on her hip. She clasped his hand and pulled away from his grip. She turned towards the direction of the bedroom with him in tow as her other hand started unbuttoning her shirt buttons.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Hollywood Arts High School  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Tuesday, July 5, 2011

It was only a few minutes after four in the afternoon, so the beautiful California sun was still out for a few more hours of summer daylight as Freddie held the door open for the raven haired teenager as they exited the school. He swore he saw with a passing a hint of a smile on her lips as she walked by him. He felt a momentary ping of pain that the day was already over, but there was still a plenty of hours left to the day to enjoy as they headed to the parking lot beside the Asphalt Café. He spoke up and glanced towards his walking companion as they cut through the Café, "So, can I give you a lift home?"

It was a logical question to ask her because there wasn't exactly anything like the Groovy Smoothie that he knew of in L.A. to take her to end the day to relax and he wasn't exactly sure if that was appropriate to ask her even if there was such a place; it finally occurred to him that they had only really knew each other for the day and the few hours a few weeks ago at the party at Kenan Thompson's house. The last thing he needed was for her to think he was trying to hit on her, especially after that possible misunderstanding during lunch, the lingering question of what exactly was going on between her and Beck and him dealing with his own problems (or failing to deal with his problems). All those thoughts simply made him mad that he was making decisions based on fear of what someone else would think of him, but old habits were dying hard so he kept up his happy, not a care in the world face.

She smirked and gave a slight nod of her head. "Thanks, it beats taking a bus home."

"Not a problem," he replied with a smile as they reached the blue rental car. It was a Nissan Versa, which the workshop organizers had rented for him. He didn't think it was the most stylish car, but it got him from point A to point B. They opened their respective doors to the rental car and settled in their seats.

As Freddie was starting up the car and Jade was settling her bag in her lap and brushed some loose hair away from her face, she asked, "So what are you going to do tonight?"

Freddie gently pulled the car out of the parking spot and towards the parking lot exit. He gave a cautious glance each way to see that it was clear to pull out into the lane then answered, "I don't have any plans. I was just going to go back to my hotel room. I thought I might play some World of Warlords. I don't have anything much else to do. I don't have to really review what they just told us for tomorrow."

Jade laughed and shook her head then looked to the brown eye teenager. "You're in L.A. and you're just going to go back to your room and play a computer game?"

Freddie shrugged his right shoulder. "I'm a geek, what do you expect? I don't know anyone else here but you, so I really just can't go out. I don't know where the best places to go and I don't go out anyway with friends."

"You're not just a geek," she felt the need to reassure him.

He chuckled out the question, "Is that a compliment?"

She laughed and shook her head for a few moments before looking back at his profile as he was paying attention to the road. "I'm just telling the truth."

He snorted out a bit of laughter. "Thanks."

Jade rested her cheek in her right hand with her elbow propped against the passenger door and looked at the Tech-Producer. "I know exactly where to go, but we'll wait until Friday and I can show you a real good time in L.A."

Freddie spared a brief glance in her direction along with a smile. "Okay, sounds like it could be fun, but what about tonight?"

She grinned then replied, "I'll show you a real game to play, but before you take me home, do you want to stop by any place else? We still have plenty of daylight."

He let out a breath and tilted his head to the side. He was glad he wasn't the only one that realized the day need to have ended quite so soon. "Well, I could use a smoothie. That is how I usually end the day, but I don't know of any Groovy Smoothies in L.A."

She gave a soft laugh. "And I could use a coffee and I know they sell smoothies."

"Well, point the way," he replied with a nod.

Jet Brew Coffee Shop  
>7055 Sunset Blvd.<br>Los Angeles, CA

Jade and Freddie were sitting across from one another at a small round table near the large window that looked to the street. She blew across the beverage and took a sip from rim of the cup. She closed her eyes and sighed in pleasure with a slumping of her shoulders. She had spoiled herself with one of the fancier coffees than she would for just her morning cup to get her going in the morning.

Freddie chuckled which pulled her out of her enjoyable moment to ask, "So coffee is your weakness?"

She opened her eyes and gave a slight frown and tilted her head to the side.

He cracked a smile and gave a slight laugh at seeing the look she was directing at him.

She narrowed her eyes in his direction and was about to snap a sarcastic reply, but he held up his smoothie before taking his first sip and stated in a jolly tone, "I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me."

"It's not much of a secret," she mumbled out then took another sip.

Freddie cocked his head to the side and shrugged a shoulder as she placed her coffee down on the table. "But still… it's safe with me."

Jade's expression relaxed under the gaze of his secretive smile as if they were sharing a secret only meant for them. She blinked as she realized she really didn't know how to respond to that with someone other than Beck. Sure, she and Cat talked about stuff that was held between just the two of them, but what he had inadvertently hinted at was new territory for her with someone other than Beck or Cat.

Freddie apparently didn't give much thought to her look as he took a sip from his straw. He pulled the drink away and blinked as he looked down on the cup. He looked up at the raven haired teenager and made a surprise face. "Wow, this is fantastic. I just hope to remember not to tell T-Bo how better these are than at the Groovy Smoothie."

"T-Bo?" she asked with furled eyebrows.

"He's the manager," he supplied.

"Oh?" she called out with a nod of her head.

"I'm not sure how he'd appreciate being upstaged… so? Was this afternoon all that bad with the camera lecture?"

Jade smirked as she brought the coffee back to her lips. After a quick sip, she replied looking over the rim of her cup, "No, I had a good teacher to help me understand all the techno-babble, but Sinjin…" The raven haired teenager shook her head.

Freddie chuckled. "That's one way to describe it, but as much as Sinjin can be trying, but he is quite smart. He's no slouch in what he knows and the AV club back in Seattle would love him as a member."

She rolled her eyes and let out a disgusted breath. "At least you can see some positive qualities."

Freddie took a quick sip from his drink and looked down at the table. "I'm just in a position not to judge someone by appearance alone. I've had plenty of people misjudge me in my life, so I finally realized that I shouldn't follow their example. I mean, you can look pretty scary, especially with the new hair."

Her eyelids widen and stared at the brown eye teenager as her mouth slightly hung open. She asked slowly as she did the same way about a month ago, "I'm scary?" She immediately thought back to her interview with tots she had put up on her Slap page and where her second little interviewee called her scary. There was no question she liked the power of behind being one of the alpha females in school; people were always hesitant in challenging or truly bothering her, but being considered "scary" and "no one liked her" did have their downsides: she didn't believe she had one decent friend she could really count on when she needed them. Unfortunately, as much as Cat could care, most of the time she was next to useless.

Freddie noticed her change in demeanor and replied quickly in a friendly tone, "You can be at first glance, but I took a second glance and you don't scare me. I don't think people take a long enough look at you to see how nice and friendly you can really be under your mean girl act."

Jade took a quick breath and stared at the boy. She looked down at her coffee and whispered hesitantly, "Are you so sure it is an act?"

"I have a month to find out if I'm right or not," he replied with a grin.

She looked up a smirked at his challenge. _Charmer_ passed through her mind and she instantly felt better for some unfathomable reason at the moment. She licked her lips, mostly to taste the flavor of the coffee lingering on her lips, but to also entice a question from her own lips, "Would you answer one of my questions?"

"Depends on the question," he replied with a smirk and nod of his head then took another sip from his smoothie.

"How can people misjudge you? You're Freddie Benson of iCarly. You're pretty famous and people love you and think you're the greatest. Look at all the girls that want to jump you at the workshop. Even the guys hope to be cool enough to hang out with you."

Freddie shook his head. He put on a frown as he replied, "That's not how it is at Ridgeway. I'm not this cool guy you think I am. I'm a punch-line to a joke or a nice target when anyone is bored."

"Target? How are you a tar-?"

He replied quickly, "I just am. They don't see Freddie from iCarly. They see Freddie as the guy they've been able to pick on for the last four years. To them I'm still that scrawny little thirteen year old."

Jade blinked and tilted her head to the side as if she didn't hear his answer or understand it. "You never stood up for yourself?"

Freddie puffed out a breath and shook his head as he looked down at the table. "Thought never occurred to me. I thought that was just my lot in life. I mean, no one ever told me any different. That my life didn't have to be that way and Carly and Sam never really stepped in to do anything about it. My friends failed me, but more importantly… I failed myself. I'm tired of failing myself…"

He looked up and met her eyes. "I take that back, I stood up for myself one time. I thought the internet guy name Fred wasn't funny. I was kicked out of every club I was a member and at the end I was force to say that he was funny after Sam broke a tennis racket over my head, nearly broke my arm then she threw me head first out of Fred's treehouse and landed on me for my troubles. I had to hug that son-of-a-bitch on iCarly to show how wrong I was for thinking he wasn't funny. So that is what I got for having the nerve of having a differing opinion: abandonment of all the people I was friendly with at school, a beat down and say to nearly a million people I was wrong for not thinking he was funny."

Jade watched with an impassive expression as he answered. It was just a mask she put up, but she was pissed beyond belief at the story he just told her. Jade let out a sigh and a disgusted shake of her head. "Carly let that happen."

Freddie clenched his jaw tight before whispering, "She had her priority: making sure iCarly didn't suffer from an internet war with Fred and my differing opinion was just an obstacle in her way. She had no problem letting Sam deal with me. It turns out he was never mad at us and just did it to get his viewer-ship up. I should have realized right then and there that I was second best to the show in her eyes. I should have just admitted that from the start. Maybe then I wouldn't have wasted so much of my life on the girl."

She whispered out with a hint of anger in her voice, "I guess I know why you're here."

He looked up and stared into her eyes. The warmth and happiness (and a little bit of bashfulness) that she had grown accustom to over the day were gone and replaced with chilly expression. He shook his head ever so slightly. "No, you don't."

The teenager leaned back in her chair as she processed his answer putting her impassive expression back on her face. There was a lot of anger in the chilly tone, but she heard the hint of pain there as well.

Freddie let out a tired breath. He continued, but this time in a regretful tone, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dump on you again."

Her mask slipped and she gave him a sympathetic smile as she whispered, "I asked again."

He studied her face and saw why she wasn't scary at all, but quite beautiful and he wasn't thinking about her physical appearance. He snorted out and started chuckling softly. She watched him for a moment and the need to join in the laughter was too hard to resist as first she cracked a bigger smile then started joining him in laughter. They laughed together for a few more moments then shared a smile before sipping on their respective drinks.

The brown eye boy then whispered, "So, what was this game you wanted to show me?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

West Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Jade opened the door to her room then entered with Freddie trailing behind her. She dropped her bag beside the door as Freddie immediately looked around to take in all the sights of the darkly decorated room. He dropped his book bag beside her bag and proceeded to walk around the room taking in all the sights and the lingering smells from the previously lit scented candles the previous day. The room had a dark somewhat morbid expression, but stood out with several framed butterfly collections and a few interesting paintings. The various jars full of different colors caught his eyes. They each contained something strange to his eyes as if they were something out of a mad scientist laboratory. He continued to his inspection to see the large flatscreen television and PearBox connected to it. His geeky side definitely approved of the strange combination of mad scientist laboratory, gothic hideaway and geeky video game corner.

He turned his gaze towards the raven haired teenager as she had a seat in the burgundy leather chair that dominated the room with a red circular table on each side and a small lamp with a black pattern on a white canvas lampshade sitting on the right side table. She wore an even expression and perhaps her eyes were bashful as what it looked to him as if she was examining him examining the room and waiting for his judgment.

Freddie smiled as he looked away from one painting and answered her unspoken question, "It's…"

Jade slightly frowned as she asked, "What?"

Freddie cocked his head to the side. "Does the room reflect you or do you reflect the room?"

Jade blinked at the question and attempted to mouth an answer. She took a breath to take a moment to think about the question. _An intelligent question._ She grinned then replied, "I don't fit in a mold. I don't act to please anyone or meet anyone's expectations. I'm Jade West and you deal with what you see. The room reflects me."

"I'm glad," he replied with a half smile. His tone became somber as he continued speaking and examining the pictures and paintings, especially the one which was apparently a depiction of Hell with various monstrous creatures trying to escape out the edges of the painting, but seemed to imprison them, "I wish I didn't seem to fit in one as much as I do." He glanced at the small signature in the corner of the painting: _Taylor Dorfman, 1979_. He shook his head and chalked up the name to a coincidence.

"Then why don't you change?"

He turned his head and gave her a small, but genuine smile.

"Sorry," she shook her head with embarrassment and palmed her forehead to shield her eyes. "Now that was cliché to say." She really couldn't believe she had spoken those words out of an after school special. She lifted up her head quickly to meet his eyes as she suddenly heard him chuckling. Her eyes met his playful eyes as he replied softly, "Maybe, but… I'm trying to change, so maybe it's not so cliché."

Her embarrassment felt as if it was pulled right out of her as he warmly smiled at her. No judgment of her in his eyes. That was probably what gave her the courage to ask the next question, "What does Freddie Benson want to be?"

Freddie nodded along as he thought about the question. It was the first time that the question was verbalized, but not the first time it had been raised in his mind. It had been on his mind since he left Trouble Waters facility and the disaster that happened at the facility. He had put together stray thoughts and partial concepts of what he wanted to be for his life. Maybe this was the chance to verbalize them without being judged.

He walked over and took a seat on the edge of her bed as she lifted a leg up on the chair and rested her chin on the top of her left knee. They exchanged glances as if to try to read the other's mind, but they both realized that something had shifted and that wouldn't be necessary for the next few minutes. He licked his lips then slowly began, "I want to be respected for me. I want my thoughts and feelings to be taken into consideration by the people around me. I want to be more then just the geeky guy and afterthought. Other than those things, I'm still working on that. It's part of the reason I'm here."

"Part?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Part," he nodded in confirmation.

Jade let out a breath and looked to the floor. She glanced back up and whispered, "If it means anything to you… I respect you and there are not a lot of people that can claim that I respect them."

The brown eye teenager let out a relieved laugh. He looked to her and gave a half smirk. "You've only known me for a day and I don't think watching me on iCarly counts. I don't get enough screen time."

She laughed and her smile caught his attention and he just watched it as she spoke, "It's been a good day and you've made a good impression."

He blinked and gave her a soft, half smirk. "Well, you've made a very good impression yourself."

She rested her forehead on her knee then whispered out, "Charmer."

"What?" he asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

She lifted her head up quickly and replied in a clip tone, "Nothing."

Freddie licked his lips quickly and replied, "Okay."

They exchanged and shared a look with one another for a few moments maybe in another attempt to read the other's mind or maybe because neither really knew what to say to the other. However, Freddie took a deep breath and asked in a lighthearted tone, "So, you wanted to show me a game?"

Jade blinked and cleared her throat. "Right, yeah, I did." She smiled and spoke in a tempting voice, "There is more to life than fantasy computer games if that is how you are going to spend your evening."

He chuckled then stood up from his seat on the bed. "Okay, I'm game."

"So you're a fan of the game?" Freddie asked as he maneuvered his character threw the level and shooting at the alien creatures when the opportunity presented itself. Jade had pulled her burgundy chair around and Freddie grabbed another chair so that they faced in front of her television as they played cooperatively the first-person shooter. Since Jade was familiar (and quite good in Freddie's opinion) with the game, she led the way through the level and killed anything that was stupid enough to get in her way. Freddie was trailing the best way he could in trying to keep up with her.

She smirked as she replied, "Yeah, it's a great bag, but it's a better game. I can't wait until the third one is out." Jade laughed as she watched the Tech-Producer try his best at controlling his character on the screen. To her bluish/green eyes, he wasn't very good at the game and was struggling just not to get his character killed.

"You stink Freddie," she laughed out loud.

Freddie kept his eyes on the large flat screen television as he replied, "I play MMORPGs, not shooters. I'd like to see you play against me on World of Warlords then we'd see which one of us would be laughing."

"Oh, now I know that is a challenge," she laughed as she started upping her game.

He glanced at her for a moment then grinned as reached over and tried to interfere with her manipulation of the controls.

"Freddie!" she yelled out playfully as she tried to control her character with one hand and swat his hand away with the other.

He joined her laughter, "Challenge? Is this a challenge enough for you?"

"I'm going to kill you Benson," she snapped, but lacked the normal bite she'd usually put into a threat.

"In the game or in real life?" he laughed out louder then grinned as he got ahead of Jade in the game.

"I haven't decided which one," she gritted out, but had a genuine smile on her face instead of an angry one. She stopped trying to swat his hand away and decided to reach over and tried to interfere with his controller.

He pulled away and leaned away from her as he laughed in response, "Like I haven't heard that before—" Freddie tumbled over off the chair and onto the floor as Jade had reached over to far and her weight shifted to fall onto him. Freddie laughed and Jade scowled as the pair tried to right themselves with Freddie gently grabbing one of her arms and hip to help her up to a sitting position beside him on the floor.

Once they were in sitting positions, Freddie released her and looked to the television screen. He gave a short laugh then commented, "I think we both lost."

She glanced at the screen then to him to ask in a curt tone, "You think?"

The brown eye teenager saw that she furled her eyebrows and frowned clearly showing her annoyance with him. He returned with his own frown and replied flippantly, "Well you started it."

Her mouth dropped open slightly and she narrowed her eyes on him further. "I started it? You tried to mess with my controller!"

Freddie tilted his head to the side then replied in a far more lighthearted voice than his expression indicated, "You wanted me to play then you made jokes about how bad I was at it. You know I don't play those kinds of games. I was just trying to even the odds and have a fair chance or did you suggest playing just to try to show me up?"

Jade rolled her eyes and blew out a breath then mumbled something too low for him to hear.

Freddie turned his head to try to hear what she was saying. "What was that? I couldn't quite understand you," he replied with a slight smirk on his face.

She threw up her hands and replied in an exacerbated tone, "Fine. You're right. I shouldn't have made jokes. I'm sorry."

The brown eye teenager's grin faltered for a moment at her words… because she meant them. Freddie grinned as he caught her eyes then nudged her playfully in the side with an elbow. "It's cool. That was fun though, well maybe except for the whole falling thing, but the rest was fun."

Her outwardly annoyed expression turned into an even expression if not somewhat confused one. The way he turned from pushing back to speaking patiently with her and the way he looked at her made her instantly think of Beck and his relaxed attitude about how she would express herself, but something was off. Something was missing or something was there that wasn't usually there and she was a lost for words in explaining it to herself because the more she thought about it, the more it sounded like nonsense at what she was debating in her head.

Freddie frowned slightly and gently palmed her left elbow. "Jade? Are you okay?"

She gave him a blank expression looking at his concerned eyes. She blinked and shook her head slightly to clear her mind. In a soft voice she replied, "Fine, I'm fine."

He gave her a slight nod then smiled softly as he held up his controller and asked, "Okay, you game for a rematch?"

Jade eyed him for only a moment and realized the geniality of the question. She smiled in return then replied, "Rematch."

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this week's installment. Looks like Jade won't tolerate anything happening to her man, whether it is from Sam or Carly. Yes, it is a PearBox instead of an X-Box. It appears that Microsoft simply doesn't exist in the iCarly/Victorious universe, so I had to come up with another explanation for how Gears of War could still exist without Microsoft. Also, there is an Easter Egg in this chapter for those of you that have been reading my other story: iGet My (Second) Chance.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I hope you've had a nice week. Here is another installment for you. This chapter is really pushing the T rating on Adult Themes, but I don't think it qualifies for an M rating. Well, on to the story.**

Chapter 10

Freddie's Hotel Room  
>Saturday, July 23, 2011<p>

Jade's head fell back into the pillow as she gasped to catch her breath as she tried to recover from their mutually shared sensation. The next moment Freddie was hovering over her and pulling the sheet around them to keep her from getting cold, but more importantly so that his mouth could start tenderly kissing the right side of her neck across her pulse point. She gently grabbed the back of his head and his hair caught between her fingers as her left hand clawed desperately onto his right shoulder. Her short breaths blew out warm air across his cheek and right ear as she purred out, "Oh my God Freddie."

He grinned against her neck before lifting his mouth to kiss just under her chin then capturing her pink lips for a brief moment and that she eagerly returned. He pulled his head back slightly to look into her eyes and gave her a small smile. He reached up and brushed up some of her raven locks away from her face then whispered, "Now that was love making."

She frowned slightly and her eyes lost some of the expressed joy she had just experienced as she replied, "_Yes it was_, but… I can't say that to you… I mean, I can't say—"

"I can't say it yet either and mean it that way like you deserve, but…" He smiled that boyish smile that brought a comforting feeling and a sense of safety to the raven haired teenager. "We like each other… we do care about one another… and we have an advantage that other couples don't have."

She licked her lips partly due to apprehension, partly to taste him on her lips. "What's that?"

He laughed and gave her another brief kiss. "When we say the words 'I love you' we know we'll mean them because we know what they really mean and what saying them really carries. Oh, how lucky others would be in knowing that for sure when those words were spoken?"

Jade cracked a smile. _Damn you Freddie Benson; why do you have to be so understanding?_ Her hand released from the back of his head and started brushing the few hairs that were falling across is forehead. "I guess we have that one thing in our favor."

They just stared at one another as she would brush his hair as he tenderly ran his fingers up and down her left arm. Freddie smiled as he whispered, "So… do you want to go out or… do you want to stay here?"

Jade rolled her head to the side on the pillow to look at his eyes at a different angle as she continued to play with his hair. She realized fairly quickly when he first arrived how expressive his eyes were if one took a moment to really looked at them. She realized in an instant that her answer mattered, but didn't at the same time. He would have been happy with any of her decisions. However, she still needed to make a decision. Jade blew out a cool breath as she thought about want she wanted to do next: stay in bed with him at least for the next few hours or actually have them meet up with Cat, Tori and André at Freezie Queen then out to the movies that afternoon or early evening as they had planned yesterday.

She smiled and replied softly, "I guess we can get ready and met up with them. I guess it's a nice day and we should enjoy it."

He chuckled out, "I'm with you. I'm already enjoying the day."

Jade laughed out, "Charmer."

He kissed down her right cheek until he reached her ear then whispered, "Still the truth."

She blew out a breath then replied, "Okay, it's the truth, but you need to get ready and I want to go home and change before we meet up with them."

He lifted his head and smiled as he replied, "Okay, but since you don't sweat, do you need another shower?"

She grinned and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll let you have the shower first this time."

"Deal," he replied then kissed her slowly on the lips then down her chin then went further down.

Jade stared up at the ceiling as she felt his lips trail down the side of her neck then past her collar bone. She grinned as she realized that he was going to take his time going to the bathroom and have her enjoy it. He pulled the sheet over his head to keep her covered from the chilly air conditioned room as he went further down. Her eyes locked onto the white ceiling as her breathing relaxed from his lips grazed her skin as he moved down her body under the sheet. Her eyes lazily studied the pattern of the white ceiling as she noticed it wasn't solid white and let the soothing sensations run through her. She relaxed and let her eyes flutter shut from his tender attention.

However, the next moment her eyes shot open and she sucked in a quick breath then she shouted out in a mix of surprise and lust from his last, brief contact of his lips which sent a shiver up her spine, "Freddie!"

She could hear his retreating laugh as she shut her eyes again in an effort to calm her breathing. After she took a few moments to calm herself, she grabbed the sheet to hold it against her as she sat up.

"You're not getting away from me that easy mister!" she growled out, but was grinning ear to ear. She swung her legs out to the edge of the bed and stood up while holding the sheet around her as to not trip over the edges. She sprinted towards the bathroom the best she could holding the sheet. She quickly entered the room and shut the door behind her. Her playful shout echoed into the empty bedroom, "You really think you're getting away with treating me that good?"

Freezie Queen  
>Sunset Blvd.<br>Los Angeles, CA

The pair finally left his hotel room about an hour later then spent another half hour to make a quick stop by Jade's home for her to change before Freddie pulled them up to a front row parking spot in front of the ice cream shop. Fortunately while Jade was changing, Mrs. West was out, so he avoided the awkward conversation he knew he would have to have with the West matriarch at some point.

The couple exchanged brief smiles before they exited his vehicle then he spared her a glance as he took the lead as to allow for him to open the ice cream store's door for her. She insisted on wearing his blue and white flannel pattern shirt as an over shirt over her V-neck shirt and black shredded jeans even in the L.A. summer heat. He attributed her choice of attire to her not sweating until it hit one-hundred seven degrees Fahrenheit. He guessed the ability had its advantages, but the gesture of her wearing his shirt was not lost on him: it was her way of letting him know she really was going to try at this relationship or maybe she just wanted something of his to keep close to her.

Freddie opened the glass door to the ice cream shop to allow Jade to enter the establishment. The pair glanced over the seating area until Jade saw André throw up a hand and waved the pair over as he called out with a big grin on his face, "Jade, Freddie, over here."

The couple walked over to where André, Tori and Cat were seated around a round table. Cat didn't immediately notice them having a seat with them as she was grinning and had her eyes close as she enjoyed the ice cream in her mouth. She took particularly enjoyment licking the spoon before taking another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

Freddie and André traded respectful nods as he took a seat and Jade passed Tori a glance as she sat beside the Tech-Producer. The brown eye teenager took a moment to look at the redhead then asked curiously, "Enjoying your ice cream?"

The redhead opened her eyes and giggled out, "Freddie!"

"Hi Cat," he replied with a warm smile.

"Yes I am; I'm glad you two made it," she happily expressed before taking another mouthful of ice cream.

Freddie snorted out a bit of laugher. "We're glad we made it too."

"It's not like we had anything else to do," Jade commented flippantly.

Freddie nudged her playfully with his elbow. "It was your idea to meet up with them."

Jade turned her head and glared at him and he responded with a grin. "Fine, I wanted to come. I guess I have a weakness for ice cream."

"Or you just want to hang out with your friends?"

"Keep it up Benson."

"I'll try," he replied with a smirk.

They both held their gazes for a moment as they realized what loaded words those were after last night and this morning. Fortunately, they kept whatever embarrassment they were feeling off of their faces. Also, they had an opportune distraction with the waitress walked over and handed Freddie a menu and the pair quickly looked over the menu they decided to share in trying to figure out which of the many flavors of ice cream to try.

Tori just looked at the pair as neither appeared to be uncomfortable with sitting so close together that their temples were touching as they shared the menu. It wasn't long before they picked their flavors and separated to sit properly in their seats as the waitress went to get their ice cream.

The lovely waitress came back a minute later with there respective ice creams: a vanilla with sprinkles for Freddie and a rich chocolate ice cream for Jade. The couple immediately dug into their cups of ice cream.

Freddie pointed to his cup of ice cream with his spoon and mumbled through the dessert in his mouth, "Now this is some good ice cream."

Cat laughed out, "Freezie Queen is the best."

After the couple enjoyed their first few spoonfuls of ice cream, Tori asked Jade with a hint of concern in her voice, "Cat tried calling you earlier, but we couldn't get an answer. We were worried something had happened."

"I was…" Jade looked to Freddie and he shrugged a shoulder in response with a reassuring smile.

He looked back to the group. He cleared his throat then answered, "Jade crashed at my place last night. It was a long day and all. I guess neither one of us noticed her phone ringing." He then cleared his throat again and looked to his ice cream.

The brunette studied the Tech-Producer for a moment and noticed that he wasn't to her eyes as cool and collective as he had been since they returned from Yerba. She let her curiosity get the best of her as she asked, "Is something wrong?"

Jade snapped out quickly, "What would be wrong?"

"I don't… know?" Tori finished with a raised eyebrow. "You two just seem—"

Freddie gave a nod of his head towards Jade. "Do you… you know? It's up to you."

If the one thing that could really drive her nuts about Freddie's behavior, it was going to be his constant consideration of her. It was strange and was going to be hard to get use to now as a couple and she was still trying to deal with it as just friends for the last three weeks.

Jade shook her head and spoke with a smirk, "Freddie and I are together now."

Tori blinked as her eyes shifted between the pair. André and Cat were equally surprise and were stunned silent. Tori slowly spoke as if she hadn't heard Jade correctly, "You two are like… together, together?"

The pair looked to one another then Freddie looked to the brunette and answered with a smile, "Yes we are. We are a couple."

Tori mouthed for a few seconds before she got out, "Oh… that's—"

"That is great!" Cat shouted then she clapped her hands.

They all turned to look at her with mixed looks of surprise and embarrassment.

"Isn't it?" Her eyes shifted in confusion as she attempted to figure out the problem.

Freddie answered, "It is, it's just—"

"It's just going to be challenging and we're figuring it out with our…" he glance over to Jade. "Pasts."

Cat replied sadly, "Oh… Beck and Carly?" She frowned and looked down at her ice cream that suddenly didn't look all that appetizing.

Freddie replied dryly, "Yes, Carly and Beck, Beck and Carly."

Tori raised an eyebrow and asked hesitantly, "Don't you think it's a little soon? You know, because of that?"

"Tori," Jade hissed out and stared at her ready to pounce.

"Probably," Freddie replied with a smile. "But, we're going to try anyway." He looked to Jade and patted the top of her hand resting on the tabletop. He asked with his eyes for her to trust him. He waited a few moments for her to process what he was trying to convey with his eyes. His patient was rewarded moments later with her calming down and giving him a slight nod and supportive expression.

He took a deep breath and calmly continued to answer the brunette's question, "I know Jade still loves Beck and she knows I still love Carly. To pretend otherwise would be just that, pretending. So, it's out there in the open and we know where we stand. It's just something we face together and we deal with together."

Tori looked back and forth between the pair before asking, "And you're both okay with that?" She looked to Jade and continued, "I mean… I remember how you reacted when I told you last time that maybe you should forget about Beck."

Jade glared at Tori and a piece of her wanted to hurt her, but the part of her brain that was thinking clearly thought that Tori made a good point and that piece hated to admit it. She frowned and hated to even explain it to the girl, but she replied, "We are okay with it, but it's not about forgetting… it's about trying to move on and maybe…" She looked to Freddie. "Learning from past mistakes and finding some happiness."

Freddie nodded in return and answered, "Right." He then looked back to Tori. "I agree with Jade. Is there some magic number that we have to wait for before we could try? I don't think there is one and I think I've given enough of my life to Carly. I don't owe her one more second. No more half attempts on my part to move on. We might fail, but we are going to try."

André spoke up with genuine concern, "So you're not afraid you two just aren't rebounding with each other?"

Freddie snorted out with a smirk, "Maybe we are, but that doesn't mean we don't care. I'm not going to let what ifs and fear rule my life anymore."

"That's pretty deep. Sounds like a good idea for a song."

"Why don't you write one and when you make a whole lot of money off of it, just send us a small little check as a thank you for inspiration?"

"Least I could do for you," the songwriter laughed out.

"What's one little rescue from a third world dictator among friends?"

Jade covered her mouth to hold back the laughter, but failed miserably. Her laugh was infectious as the rest of them started laughing.

The brunette of the group let out a breath then asked hesitantly, "Does Beck know?"

"No, we just figured it out this morning that we wanted to be together. You are the first to know. Well, except for Carly," Freddie pointed out with a shrug of his shoulder.

Tori shifted her eyes between Jade and Freddie before asking, "Wait, how does Carly know?

Jade replied quicker and in a slightly harsh tone than Freddie could form the words, "She just showed up at his doorstep this morning. She wanted to talk to him."

"That must suck," André commented then took a scoop of his ice cream into his mouth.

Freddie let out a breath then turned to his own ice cream. "You have no idea."

"That must not have been a pleasant conversation," Tori tried to comment casually as she in turn turned her attention to her ice cream.

Freddie swallowed a quick spoonful of his ice cream then replied, "I didn't have one."

"You didn't?"

Jade spoke up in a firm voice, "We were busy and I didn't like her interrupting us."

Tori and André looked to one another apparently trading theories of what Jade meant by the comment by simply looking into each other's eyes while Cat was blissfully ignorant and enjoying her ice cream.

"We were in the middle of breakfast," Freddie quickly supplied.

Jade smirked as she licked her spoon delicately. "Among other things," she purred out.

The songwriter and the singer exchanged looks once more and decided that they didn't necessarily want to know anymore and thought the breakfast explanation was enough of an answer.

Cat grinned and asked in an excited voice, "Since you two are together, how are you going to celebrate Jade's birthday?"

The rest of the group looked to the redhead and shared a number of confused and surprised looks as the sheer randomness of the question.

"Birthday?" Freddie blinked as he questioned the girl's question. He then looked to Jade with a curious look on his face.

Jade rolled her eyes as she replied, "Yes, my birthday is Tuesday."

"It is? Why didn't you tell me?" Freddie asked with a little hurt in his voice.

"Because I don't like birthdays," she replied lamely trying her best to ignore the tone of his question.

"Why?"

She sighed out in irritation, "Because you're just celebrating you being one more year closer to death."

Freddie let out a breath and closed his eyes. He looked up and gave her a warm smile. "Jade, you can die at any time. I know from personal experience with a near death experience with a taco truck, so it doesn't matter thinking like that about birthdays. I think we should celebrate. I want to celebrate with you."

Cat asked giddily, "Please Jade? Let's do something great. You're only seventeen once."

Jade hated those excited eyes from the redhead and the hopeful look from Freddie wasn't helping either, especially the life lesson he learned from his near death experience (your damn fault Carly not looking both ways to cross a damn street). She hated to admit it, but she couldn't resist giving into Freddie since his goal was to obviously try to make her happy and it really did sound like pretty good advice. She threw up her hand and relented, "Fine, we'll do something, but nothing stupid or silly."

Cat asked hopefully, "Maybe a little bit silly?"

Freddie laughed and asked, "Please Jade? A little silly?"

Jade narrowed her eyes on her boyfriend and shook her head. "Fine, a little bit silly, but you so owe me if it gets out of hand."

The brown eye teenager laughed then leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "Deal."

Cat was practically giddy from the display of affection while Tori and André were far more guarded with their outward expressions. The group then turned back to their respective ice creams before they melted.

It was only a few minutes later when in the middle of their conversation, André's mouth dropped open while Tori tried to mouth something to Jade and Freddie, but she was apparently a lost for words.

Jade blinked in confusion as to their sudden change in behavior. Freddie's brow furled as he looked to all of them and asked, "What?"

Tori pointed behind them, but it wasn't necessary.

"Freddie, we need to talk," he heard Carly's voice call out from behind him. He immediately shut his eyes and shook his head. He let out a disgusted breath and turned in his seat see Carly, Sam and Spencer standing a few feet behind them.

"Damn, both of you," he swore out as he shook his head in disgust.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Black Box Theater  
>Hollywood Arts High School<br>Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Freddie shook his head as he was trying to explain something to Sinjin about the camera the Hollywood Arts student was holding, but the curly haired teenager wasn't budging with his opinion. The pair had been arguing over the last ten minutes as the majority of the other students glanced from their own work to watch their disagreement. A number of cameras of various models had been distributed to the class to help them familiarize with the hardware besides just the 'book work' that the teachers had gone over that morning.

The techies were not sharing a camera, but sharing their first hand knowledge with the other students gathered around them individually (with a number of girls flocking around Freddie for obvious reasons). However, they overheard one another about a particular aspect of the camera work which quickly deteriorated to a near argument.

Sinjin pointed to one part of the camera and spoke firmly, "No, you put it in that plug then go for the wider shot."

Freddie sighed loudly and pointed to some of the other buttons. "No, you use that setting and go for the tighter shot. They don't need the entire scenery for what you want to shoot. It's not important to the scene that we see _that_ chair."

"I know what I'm doing."

"So do I, I do this on a weekly basis."

Sinjin frowned and replied hotly, "Don't throw up the iCarly stuff. Everyone already knows your background." The glasses wearing teenager noticed that the surrounding teenager girls were grinning and nodding in agreement as they looked to Freddie.

"Well, I'm sorry that the amateur happens to know more than the _professional_. I'll trust my experience to your book any day."

Sinjin was about to snap something back when Jade stormed up with a hint of panic on her face that went right to her voice, "They got arrested!"

The other students quickly cleared a path for her as Freddie and Sinjin turned to concerned actress and each blinked in confusion. Freddie was the first to speak, "What?"

Jade shook her head and continued, "They got arrested. They're in prison."

Freddie handed the camera to Sinjin, but kept his focus on the pale teenager. He raised his hands up slightly then asked calmly, "Slow down. Who got arrested?"

The pale teenager took a breath then shouted, "Beck, Cat, André, all of them!"

Sinjin found his voice and asked, "For what?"

Jade spare an outright glare at the curly hair teenagers as she considered him an intruder to her private yet public conversation with Freddie. She answered in a stern voice, "That stupid Tori hit their chancellor in the eye with her shoe and then the rest of them were arrested after Robbie killed his pet octopus."

Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Pet octopus?"

She gave him a perplexed look and shrugged her shoulders then threw up her hands. "I don't know. Robbie never makes any sense."

The brown eye teenager shook his head and palmed his forehead. He ran the same hand on his forehead through his hair and took a moment to think. He dropped both his hands and let out a breath. "Okay, where exactly are they?"

Her eyebrows knotted and she gave him a slight frown. "What the prison?"

Freddie shook his head, "No, what country? You never told me the country."

Jade mouthed something as she tried to processes his line of questioning then answered, "I'm not sure."

"Well, we have to find out," the Tech-Producer announced as if it was the obvious thing to say.

"Why?"

Freddie cocked his head to the side and replied in a somewhat disbelieving tone that he actually had to speak the next words, "So we can do something about it."

Jade shook her head and looked to him as if he had just lost his mind. "Do what? They're in a prison in some third world country a couple thousand miles away."

"I don't know yet, but we need to know at least the county before we do what I haven't figured out yet."

The actress snorted out and shook her head as she spoke, "You can't be serious?"

Freddie straightened his posture and clenched his jaw tight for a moment before replying, "I am."

She snapped back at him harshly in a tone that she usually saved for Tori, "Then you're crazy."

The brown eye teenager tilted his head to the side and gave a slight frown. "I've been involved in a lot of wacky schemes over the years and we can discuss my mental faculties later, but for right now we have more important things to worry about. Is anyone with them that isn't in prison?"

Sinjin spoke up and raised a finger then air quoted the last part, "Lane, he's the Guidance Consoler. He's their 'adult supervision', unless of course he's in prison with them."

He glanced over to Sinjin for a moment then back to Jade. "Okay, can we talk to him?"

Jade and Freddie walked into a side entrance for the main office of the school and found an out of the way desk with a phone where the skeleton staff wouldn't notice the pair. As Jade was finishing her call with Cat's mother on which country the teenagers were being held, Freddie took the seat and sat his laptop down and immediately booted it up. After about a minute or so, he was able to find the number to the US Embassy in Yerba where they were told Lane was still at to the best of Cat's parents' knowledge.

Freddie immediately picked up the phone and started dialing the number as he whispered out the number off the screen to himself.

Jade pocketed her phone and sat on the edge of the desk by the phone then asked with a hint of disbelief, "Making a long distance call on the school's dime?"

"They can bill me later," Freddie whispered out harshly as he finished dialing the number to the Embassy.

Jade smirked and was impressed with the response from the brown eye teenager. Freddie pulled the phone away from his ear and offered it to Jade. "Take the phone."

The raven haired teenager quickly took it and immediately got the switchboard. After a quick shouting match, she was able to get them to get Lane on the phone. Once she had him, she started rattling off questions about what had happened and where exactly was the rest of her 'friends'.

Jade covered the end of her phone with her opposite hand and started relaying the information to Freddie who was quickly typing away notes of what she was saying. They didn't learn anything really new from Lane about the situation other than the location of the prison where they were being held and the Embassy wasn't being too helpful in trying to get the Hollywood Arts students released.

Jade finally ended the conversation and told Lane to call her as soon as there were any changes. She sighed out in disgust as she palmed her forehead and looked down at the floor. "Well that was a big waste," she mumbled out.

Freddie typed furiously on the laptop keyboard trying to search for any information on the country. He quickly found several sources and news articles about the country. The Tech-Producer rubbed a finger just under his bottom lip as he read up on the country and absently reached over with his other hand to pat her left knee of her crossed legs in reassurance. "Maybe not. I'm just doing some research about the country. It says here they are in the middle of a civil war. Didn't anyone check this out before they went?"

Jade glanced at the quick gesture, but is she had a problem with it, she didn't say anything. However, she did sigh with annoyance in her voice, "Don't ask me what was on Tori's mind. She just fell in love with all the white sandy beaches promises and all expense paid trip."

Freddie shook his head in disbelief as well as he replied, "Can't worry about that now." He started typing on his laptop again.

Jade stood up away from the desk then looked over Freddie's right shoulder and resting a hand on his left shoulder to see that he was apparently typing an e-mail. "What are you doing?"

"Calling in a favor… I hope," he replied as he quickly typed away at his message and copied and pasted some information about Yerba into the email.

Jet Brew Coffee Shop  
>7055 Sunset Blvd.<br>Los Angeles, CA

Freddie sipped his smoothie as he watched the pale teenager on the opposite side of the same table they sat yesterday continue to swirl her coffee with a spoon and stare into the brew and rest her chin in her other hand as her elbow supported her head. He had done nothing but watch her for the last four or so hours before leaving the school and taking a silent car ride over then treating her with anything she wanted from the coffee shop. He had watched Jade's irritable self wear a frown the entire time after he sent his email off and watch her snap at anyone that even spoke to her. It was a silly thought at the moment, but he realized that someone that lovely shouldn't frown that much.

He looked to her hand on the table and debated for a moment. He took a breath then took the risk and reached over to place his hand on top of hers swirling her coffee. She looked up at his hopefully compassionate eyes as he whispered, "It's going to be okay. He'll… they will get out and be back before you know it."

She replied in a curt tone, "I'm fine."

He pulled his hand away and replied casually, "Okay, you're fine. I'm just making conversation."

She snapped, "How about you make some different conversation?"

"Fine," he replied coolly. "What do you want to talk about?"

She looked down at the table and replied in a huff, "I don't care."

He asked dryly, "I could go on about various types of sandpaper?"

She narrowed her eyes on him and frowned. "So you're going to be a smartass now?"

Freddie smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "It is actually a very interesting topic for people like me with all the different types and various applications, however, why don't you tell me more about that play you wrote, Well Wishes or anything else you plan on writing?"

She shook her head. "I am not doing this."

"What?"

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, "Sit here and have some friendly little conversation with you. You wanted to do something and all you did was sent off an email."

"That's more than what you were willing to do," he reminded her gently.

She narrowed her gaze at him. "Don't push me Benson."

The brown eye teenager smirked as he replied, "Sam's nearly killed me once, but I'm still standing. What can you do to me?"

"Finish the job," she answered with her anger clearly carried in her voice.

"Wow… you really stink at bluffing," he replied with a grin.

Jade leaned forward with a deep frown on her face and resting an elbow on the table. "You think I'm bluffing?"

Freddie chuckled for a moment before replying confidently, "You like me too much."

If possible she frowned deeper. "I don't give a damn about you," she whispered out coldly.

Freddie wore a confident smile as he replied, "You're also a piss poor liar. You reveal a lot about yourself when you get mad."

"I'm warning you Freddie—"

"And I just told you I'm not impressed with the threats, so warn me all you like. I nearly died by Sam's hands one time and a taco truck nearly took me out when I saved Carly from being ran over. Physical pain and death don't frighten me."

"Well I can—"

Freddie leaned forward to meet her stare. "What? Make my life miserable? Sorry, but someone already has that job, remember?"

Jade growled out then clenched her jaw tight for a moment. She took a calming breath and met his determined eyes. "Why do you have to be so damn frustrating?"

"I'm not being frustrating; I'm just trying to reassure you that everything is going to be alright and that you don't have to keep worrying."

She shook her head slightly and gave him a cold glare. Her voice was cold as she replied, "I am not worrying, I'm fine and I don't want your reassurance."

He replied just as coolly, "Well you have it anyway." He started sipping back on his smoothie as if he didn't have a care in the world.

The raven haired teenager wanted nothing more than to wipe that self-assured look off of his face. He could be a cocky, self-assured, know-it-all that was doing his best to make her feel better… She took a quick breath when she came to that realization. She felt a sudden surge of anger, but felt something else that she couldn't quite place her finger initially. She realized the feelings were embarrassment and appreciation at what he was trying to do for her. She quickly picked up her cup of coffee with both her palms and sipped the drink in the hopes to calm herself and hide her expression from the brown eye teenager with the cup and her hands.

The casual voice broke her away from her inner thoughts, "Do you want to grab a real dinner in a little while then out for a movie? See anything you want."

She lowered the cup and saw his softened expression. She shrugged her shoulder then replied in a reserved tone, "Yeah, that would be fine."

Freddie cracked a genuine smile and gave a slight nod of his head. "Cool."

West Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

It was just after ten when Freddie pulled the pair up into the driveway of her home and walked her towards her front door. Jade pulled her keys out of her pocket and pulled the shoulder strap of the Gears of War book bag more secure on her shoulder. She quickly unlocked her door with her free hand then took a step inside. She turned to see Freddie's warm smile that caught her off guard for a moment. She cleared her throat and looked down for a moment in order to avoid Freddie's brown eyes.

As hateful as she had been earlier to him, he remained his friendly self for the most part after they left the coffee shop, during dinner and treating her to the movie. A part of her was just as perplexed with him as she had been with Tori a little more than a year ago: she acts mean, but he (and Tori) acted nice in return. It's not suppose to work that way she told Tori and apparently Freddie didn't understand it either. _One of the reasons why his life so far has been miserable._

However, tonight had been worst than her dealings with Tori of being treated nicely in return to her sour behavior: if the circumstances had been different tonight, she realized it would have been a pretty good date. He treated her great, she had a grudgingly good time and he didn't try to cop a feel even once.

She finally replied in a somewhat bashful voice, "Thanks for this afternoon and tonight. Really… thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied in a thicker voice as if there was more that he wanted to say, but was unsure of what message he wanted to speak. Freddie reached over and palmed a piece of paper into her right hand. He held on to her hand for a few more moments as he looked into her bluish/green eyes. "Just in case," he whispered bashfully, "you need to talk… _anytime_, even in the wee hours of the morning. I'll answer."

His hand slipped out of hers and she looked down and saw the scribbled, but legible phone number. She looked up at him with wide open eyes and an even expression.

He gave her another warm smile. "Goodnight Jade. I'll see you in the morning." He bowed his head one last time then turned to start back to his car.

The actress/singer took a deep breath then looked to Freddie's retreating form. Her mind was whirling with various emotions and uncertainty and it showed on her face as she watched him reach his car. She whispered, even if he was out of earshot, "'night Freddie."

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this installment. Thank you for reading and review if you liked it or didn't like it. See you next Friday with another installment.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I hope you enjoy this installment. You'll get some answers in these chapters. However, please remember my dear readers, just because one character paints another character in a bad light, doesn't mean that either character is the 'bad one'. There are always two sides to every story. You'll just have to keep reading to get the entire story. Thanks.**

Chapter 12

Hollywood Arts High School  
>Thursday, July 7, 2011<p>

Freddie had searched through most of the school in a vain hope of finding the raven haired teenager. He was hoping that she was actually still at the school and hadn't decided to just grab a bus and leave. She had slipped away he guessed about half an hour earlier without him noticing while the class was involved in another hands on experience with today's lesson.

He was kicking himself for failing to cheer her up just enough to get through the day. He thought that he had done an adequate job last night of trying to keep her mind off of her worries by treating her with dinner and the movie that she picked out. It wasn't necessarily his taste in movies, but she did appear to enjoy herself and tone down the hostile and short tempered demeanor.

Whatever he was able to accomplish last night apparently didn't carry over this morning. He had picked her up this morning, but she remained quiet throughout the ride after he told her he hadn't heard any news yet. She had remained quiet throughout the morning as well, so he didn't notice at first when she wasn't in the theater.

If Sikowitz or the other teachers had a problem with him just walking out, they didn't voice their disapproval and he really didn't care if they did have a problem. He had passed through the same hallway for the fourth time to take another direction, but this time he passed closer to the janitor's closet and noticed that it was slightly ajar.

He carefully pushed the door open and looked around the edge inside the room. He pushed open the door and stepped inside the small room filled with all the expected items necessary for the sanitation needs of a high school. Freddie released a surprised and sad breath as he looked at the teenager sitting cross-legged with her back to the opposite wall and staring forward. In a soft and hopefully comforting voice, he asked, "Why are you in here?"

She looked up with bloodshot eyes and makeup running down her cheeks. "I didn't want anyone cool to see me like this."

Freddie closed the door behind him and took a seat in front of it and using it to support his back. His knees were bent and he rested his elbows on his knees and arms hanging over his legs.

"Worrying about Beck's finally got to you?"

She looked to the floor and refused to answer. Her frown deepened and she blinked her eyes as a few more tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I know how it feels to worry and be heartbrok—"

She snapped her head up and growled out, "You don't know how I feel."

Freddie frowned and replied in a cool tone, "Like someone cut your heart out with a spoon? Yeah, I know exactly what you are feeling."

Jade leaned back slightly as she studied his eyes. _Oh my God, he does know._ She then looked down at her lap unable to take seeing her owns feelings being reflected back with his eyes. "It's not just the prison thing… Beck and I broke up, but I guess you figured that out."

Freddie released a breath then replied carefully, "I suspected something had happened, but I didn't realize it was that serious. I just thought maybe you two were on the outs then you two would straighten everything out when he got back."

She took a deep breath then released it. She started talking without bothering to think what she was or wanted to say, "No… I was mean one too many times. He… he was just tired of it and a long list of other things. I tried to sabotage Tori's performance in Steamboat Susan then I tried to ruin the _Prome_ and he thought that was too far. How many chances can you give the mean girl?"

"I don't know… but I gave plenty to one girl… so I have a pretty high tolerance for it. Tell me what happened?" he finished asking hopefully.

Those eyes were just so nonjudgmental she hated him for it for a moment. They were so like Beck's eyes yet so different. There was no irritation as there was in the longer haired teenager's eyes when he learned about both instances. "Tori was so… she wanted her prom so bad that it didn't matter to her that it got my performance canceled—"

"What performance?"

She wiped some of her running makeup off her cheeks with the back a hand then took a deep breath. She looked up to meet his eyes then began in a tired voice, "I was going to do a performance art that Saturday on the Asphalt Café, but it got canceled for the prom. She didn't care and thought I was just a baby about it. So I was going to ruin her prom like she ruined my performance. I set up a horror short film, I got the band canceled, but she still won and I got dragged off by Doug the Diaper Baby. Before that, she beat me out of playing the lead role in Steamboat Sally. Ever since she got here, I can't get any lead role if she auditions for it. I'm sick of her beating me out every time because she's little miss perfect Mary Sue that everyone loves with her damn wholesome image."

Jade took several deep and quick breaths as she let her anger wash over her. The thoughts made her blood boil and she felt empowered and ready to take the brunette's head off if she had been there at that moment. It gave her strength, but then the wave crest and pulled back dragging her anger away with it when Freddie whispered, "I'm sorry."

Her head snapped up and saw those same nonjudgmental eyes and she felt deflated. She was about to snap back a reply to rally her anger once more, but he continued, "I'm not saying that was the best way of handling how you felt about the Prome canceling your performance, because it wasn't, but… we all get upset and frustrated… hurt and sometimes we get mean."

He took another breath and shook his head. "I think Beck should have realized that instead of just thinking you're being mean. You're not mean just to be mean and I know the difference, oh do I know the difference. I figured out that's just how you reacted when you get frustrated or hurt: you lash out and you get mean, not just because you can be mean. That's why you acted the way you did all day yesterday, but… I think deep down you're a good person that cares in her own way."

She frowned and her anger returned as she thought how presumptuous he was in trying to figure her out. She snapped, "Maybe you're just an idiot."

Freddie grinned then pointed a finger at her. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not trying to hurt you Jade. I'm not your enemy."

She clenched her fists in her lap and growled out, "Stop that! Stop being so damn nice! I'm mean to you; you're supposed to be mean back."

He lowered his head slightly as he looked back at her and replied in a firm voice, "No. I'm not going to do what I'm _suppose_ to do just because you and Carly expect of me. I'm going to do what I think is right and what I want to do, not what you and her think I should do!"

The actress' anger vanished as quickly as it had reignited as she looked into his resentful eyes, but she didn't hold the gaze long as he lowered his head to look at his knees. She looked down to her lap and frowned. _She didn't care, she didn't care, she didn't—_ She whispered without looking up, "Why are you here? Really, why are you here in L.A.?" Then she made the mistake of looking up and meeting his eyes.

Freddie took a deep breath and looked at the soft eyes. The anger was gone and replaced with something akin to curiosity. There was no judgment either in those eyes, just patient sympathy in her bluish/green eyes. He found it a little amusing that her eyes could shift in color of bluish/green depending on the light and a part of him thought that they could change depending on her mood like a glorified mood ring.

He spoke as if the words were foul for him to say and a lingering hint of disgust in his voice, "Sam kissed me… about a few weeks or so after we were down here, she woke up one day and decided she liked me romantically and still hated me at the same time."

"I didn't know what to think at first after the kiss, but she ran off and checked herself into a mental hospital before we could talk about it. We finally found her and we talked. She told me about the part of liking me and hating me at the same time. She thought she was crazy. I found that kind of insulting: she had to be crazy to like me so much so that checking herself into a mental hospital was suppose to be the _rational_ solution." He snorted out sarcastically, "That's exactly what a guy wants to hear even if it was from her."

Freddie shook his head and frowned deeply. "Then Carly got involved." He took several breaths help calm himself. "Carly said I should give Sam a chance… she likes me now… that I should give the girl that has made it her life's mission to make my life a living Hell every chance she got for the last four years a chance."

He looked in the direction of the singer, but his eyes seemed to be looking inward, than actually meeting her eyes. "At that moment I truly thought Carly was insane or…" Freddie cleared his throat. "Was that what she really wanted to happen? Sam and I to get together?"

He shook his head, "Yeah, I'll admit Sam and I have our moments… meatball golf… some moments of hanging out just fine, but those are far and in between and that doesn't wash away every insult, every humiliating instant she caused… every physical assault. You said I should be mean back, maybe I should have because that's what being nice and helpful and caring about Sam got me: an emotional or physical beating when she needed to get off."

Jade spoke up, "Like with the whole Fred thing?"

"That's just one example in a long list of things she's done to me. What could I really do about it? What am I suppose to do get her to stop? Hit her back? 'You can't hit her, she's a _girl_ and you're a boy.' It doesn't matter to anyone that she used me as a punching bag for all that time, it would still be considered 'wrong' to have the nerve to defend myself. She gets to use her vagina as a damn shield and an excuse for what she does to me and everyone else and I don't want any part of that anymore… not after what Carly did to me. I didn't have anymore reason to put up with it or her."

He clenched his jaw tight for a moment as his anger flared. "But that's what was expected of me: give Sam a chance at love." Freddie shook his head. "That's not how I always imagined love: a girl that openly admits she hates me and hurts me whenever possible. I want something more than that in love. I want somebody that will love me for me, to actually care about what happens to me, someone… I just want somebody that will put me first for a change and really return my love. I thought that could be Carly since I was in sixth grade, but I was wrong. She had all my love... and it wasn't enough. That was the one area in my life I was not going to compromise for her: what I wanted in a loving relationship. Carly had the nerve to try to take that from me with wanting to get with Sam. How dare she try to do that to me! I nearly died for her and this is how she wanted to return the favor?"

He took a deep breath and released it slowly as he continued, "I also realized something very important: Carly will never love me or put me first when she said I should get with Sam because Sam wanted me… always Sam first. It didn't matter what my feelings were in the situation. It is always what is always best for Sam. Never, _never_ my feelings in consideration if Sam's in the picture. Who am I kidding? She's put total strangers before me. She took the Seddies' thoughts into more consideration as if they should have a say in how I run _my life_ and to Hell with any Creddie too if they think they should have a say in my life too. Carly will put a cute boy's feelings whenever he passes by her before mine. She treated Steven better than me. She's shown more concern with her enemies than with me. She'll let Sam beat the shit out of me on a regular basis, but wouldn't let Sam touch Steven after she found out he was cheating on her. She didn't even know Tori and she stopped Sam from hitting her with a butter sock."

He gave a brief laugh then continued, "That was the last straw: Carly saying I should give Sam a chance and forget what Sam has put me through. I just found the quickest way I could get away from them and didn't tell them I was going or where. I don't need them in my life anymore. I found out about the workshop after glancing theSlap page, so I'm here."

Jade just stared at the teenager. He just bared his soul to her; probably far more than Beck have had with her. She didn't realize it at that moment, but he had just let her inside and maybe he got inside her as well. She licked her lips then whispered out, "She breaks your heart then to rub salt in the wound tells you to get with her best friend that treats you like dirt?"

Freddie smirked, but it wasn't a happy one. "That sums it up."

"And they say I'm a cruel bitch."

Freddie frowned and stared at the teenager.

She shrugged as shoulder, "You've been honest with me, thought I'd return the favor."

Freddie snorted out and shook his head.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Jade whispered, "I'm sorry Freddie."

He lifted his head and met her surprisingly soft eyes. "Thank you… I'm sorry about Beck."

"Thanks… look at us: two moping teenagers sitting in a janitor's closet about our loves that got away. Sounds like some stupid teenage drama."

Freddie got up and walked the brief distance between them and took a seat beside her. He gave her a brief smile and bumped his shoulder with her shoulder. "Maybe so, but I'm glad I'm in the closet with you."

She closed her eyes and snorted out a hitched breath. "Charmer."

He gave her a smile in return the reached up and grabbed a wrapped roll of toilet paper. He tore open the wrapping and a few sheets then turned back to the pale teenager. He lifted up some balled sheets in his right hand and cupped her chin in his left hand. He started to wipe the tears and makeup off her cheeks as gently as possible as it was the cheap stuff and not particularly soft tissue.

Once her cheeks were cleaned off and let go of her chin, he looked to her and gave her a smile. "And you have the beauty of an angel… I guess we all have our problems."

She let out a snort as she did her best to hold back a laugh. However, before she could respond, he asked, "So you think I'm cool? You didn't want me to see you like this."

She sniffled a moment, but the smallest of smiles formed on the teenager's face. She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Yeah, I think you're cool."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Black Box Theater  
>Hollywood Arts High School<br>Los Angeles, CA  
>Friday, July 8, 2011<p>

They had nearly stayed joined at the hip the rest of the previous afternoon after their "closet incident" and keeping their minds occupied at the task at hand in the workshop. She had even listened to some of what Sinjin had to offer in equipment knowledge, which was actually bearable. After the workshop had ended for the day, they went back to Jet Brew to get her coffee and his smoothie as they had the previous days. He had even coaxed her into trying his smoothie (and a smile out of her) this time and he tried her fancy coffee blend (which was a miracle in of itself since she preferred her coffee usually black with two sugars). They then went back to her place and just played video games until the wee hours of the night, but what they did not do was speak of anything related to Beck or Carly. They knowingly or unknowingly had agreed with their silence on their respective subjects that they needed to close up the wounds that they had opened, at least for a little while and take comfort with the presence of someone that could understand.

It was lunch time as Jade and Freddie were sitting at one of the tables the students of the workshop had pulled into the theater and eating on their individual pizza slices. The 'class' had decided to pitch in and just order in pizza for everyone to celebrate the completion (near completion) of their first week in the workshop.

Everyone was of course socializing with one another and having a good time swapping stories or talking about silly, useless topics, but Jade had no interest socializing with any of them as she quietly sat beside Freddie. Jade kept glaring at the female students (and even some of the male students) that wanted to sit with them. She felt a momentary sting of guilt that she was keeping Freddie away from people that genuinely seemed to want to be around him and now knowing he really didn't have any real friends when he went back to Seattle, but then she'd glance over his way and he would return with a smile that he was content where he was sitting. However, that just made the sting of guilt hurt even more for some unfathomable reason that her mind couldn't comprehend.

She didn't like the guilt and turned to a more comforting emotion as she thought about the subject that she had pushed to the back of her mind: anger, anger over the fact that Beck and the rest of them were in some prison in some rat hole. It was then easy to direct her anger on a single point: Tori.

She mumbled out without realizing it, "Tori has probably already making her moves on him."

"What?" Freddie asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice as he turned his attention towards his eating companion.

The singer blinked and turned her attention to Freddie. "What?"

"You said something," he pointed out gently.

"Oh… Oh? I guess I was thinking out loud. I was just thinking Tori probably made her moves on Beck as soon as they got to Yerba before they got arrested. With Steven and Ryder out of the picture and Beck… well, is free."

Freddie slightly frowned as he asked, "Why would you think she would do something like that?"

She clenched her jaw and stared off at some teenagers laughing and enjoying their companionship. She whispered out coldly, "Because I always suspect Tori really had a thing for Beck. Since the day she got here. She even kissed him the second day as part of an acting exercise."

He took a bite out of his pizza and sat it down on a napkin in front of him on the table. He took a moment to finish chewing then commented with a hesitant look, "I have my doubts."

She turned her head to give him a narrowed her gaze, but gave him an even expression as if she was more curious than angry at his statement. "Why would you say that?"

Freddie shrugged a shoulder then took a sip from his soft drink. He swallowed the liquid then replied, "It might have just been my imagination, but well… after the whole humiliating Steven thing and the song, I got the impression that André liked Tori and she looked like she ah… was reciprocating."

She blinked and looked away from his eyes to nowhere in particular then back at him. "You're serious?"

"Yes," he replied slowly. "I'm just telling you how it looked to me, unless that is how they always act around one another. I don't know; I've only seen them for a couple of hours. You know them far better than I do, they're your friends."

Jade looked down at her food for a moment and contemplated Tori's and André's friendship and particularly later that night at Kenan's house. As she thought back on that night, André did seem pretty relieved that Steven was out of Tori's life and more upbeat then he had been when the cheating teenager had been around Tori. Then she thought to how touchy-feely the pair had been and how comforting André had been to Tori when looking for the letters that spelt Kesha in the cartons of ice cream when they were trying to win the free concert.

She blinked and looked up to Freddie. "Wow, ah… I guess I really never paid that much attention."

"Jealousy can blind you and color how you see a lot of things," he offered with a friendly smile.

She nodded along realizing she was forced to agree with him. She wondered what other things she could have missed as she was so concerned about Tori or Alyssa Vaughn or any other girl that even gave Beck a passing glance.

"Did jealousy ever cloud your perception? Cloud how you saw things?"

Freddie looked down at the table for a moment and thought back on the occasions that he had been jealous. "Yes, perhaps, but… all those times I just happened to turn out to be right about the guys that she tried or did date: Jake, the handsome singer sounding like he was strangling cats, Griffin the bad boy turned out to be a Pee-Wee Baby collector, Adam turned out to be a guy that wouldn't take Carly's word, and Steven—" He sniffed out in disgust, "As if I had to tell you how that ended."

"So, a moron, a furry and a cheater, but she won't give the guy that saved her life a chance?"

"When you say it out loud… at least my knee and right hand works," he replied in a tired voice then lifted his right to show he could wiggle his fingers and rotate his wrist without any problem. His eyes lowered and in a soft voice he continued, "But she did give me a chance… it just didn't turn out to be real one."

Jade blinked and absently played with the rim of her Styrofoam cup. "What do you mean?"

Before he could reply, Sinjin approached the table and Jade immediately noticed his approach. She frowned and quickly stated firmly with a hint of annoyance, "No."

The curly haired teenager shook his head. "It's not that, there's a phone call for you in the main office."

Jade frowned and passed a glance to Freddie. He returned with a shrug of his shoulders and a perplex face. She got up and whispered to him, "I'll be right back."

He watched her form quickly exit the theater then looked back to Sinjin. The Hollywood Arts student looked to him with a questioning look on his face.

The Tech-Producer shook his head. "I don't know."

The glasses wearing teenager tilted his head to the side and shrugged a shoulder in return then turned and headed back to his group of friends and that brunette he had met the first day.

Freddie took another sip from his straw, but the curiosity got the best of him. He sat his cup down and got up from his seat then quickly slipped out main entrance of the theater. He quickly reached just outside of the main office and leaned against the wall patiently waiting for her to exit the office. He only had to wait a minute or so for her to exit. He raised an eyebrow as he looked to her as she was wearing the biggest smile that he had ever seen on her face. He pushed off the wall and approached her. "So what's the good news?"

She let out a relieved laugh. "I just got a phone call from Beck. They'll be home by Saturday."

He shouted with a huge smile on his face, "That's great!"

She laughed as she threw her arms around the back of Freddie's neck and hugged him tight. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and the small of her back. They held on to each other for a few moments with smiles plastered on their faces until they both realized what they were doing and pulled apart. They both cleared their throats as the other took a step back avoiding each other's eyes. Freddie brushed some hair off of his forehead as she pulled some lock from out in front of her face.

They worked up the courage to meet each other's eyes as each took a few soft breaths as she grinned and he gave a lopsided smile.

Freddie shook his head. "I guess that favor came through… I think we should go celebrate."

"Celebrate?"

He let out a thankful breath. "Yes, celebrate them coming home then celebrate when they get home."

She tilted her head to the side and licked her lips. "I like it. Do you have any ideas on how you want to celebrate?"

"Where did you want to take me for a good time?"

She responded by giving him a small grin.

**Author's Note: So, you know **_**their**_** side of the story and it looks like Freddie's favor came through to get the Victorious group out of Yerba. You'll have to read more to find out the whole truth on both accounts. See you next Friday.  
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	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. I hope everyone has had a nice week. This is a one chapter update, but it's as long as about my usual two chapter updates, so you aren't missing anything. I suggest if you can, during a certain part of this chapter that will be obvious, you might want to look up Elizabeth "Liz" Gillies cover of Adele's song One and Only. I think it might give a unique experience to reading this chapter. No, it isn't song fic chapter, I personally hate those things with a passion. Happy reading.**

Chapter 14

Karaoke Dokie  
>Sunset Blvd<br>Los Angeles, CA  
>~8 pm, Friday, July 8, 2011<p>

Jade turned her head to look over her shoulder to give the Tech-Producer a smile as she led him through the front entrance of the restaurant. He returned with a half, playful smile of his own as his eyes met her bluish/green eyes. He saw the same playfulness there in her eyes that he had seen the first time they had played video games at her house, but he hadn't seen since the news of Beck and others being arrested in Yerba. Now that she knew they (Beck) were coming back, her mood had improved for the rest of the afternoon, however that was just back to her normal behavior have having limited patients with the rest of the class. He was just as happy as she that they would be home soon, but for some reason he could only give her half-hearted smiles and he didn't know why.

Once she led them to have a seat at a circular table near the karaoke platform, with her back towards the platform, Freddie gave another half smile as he surveyed the place and saw the place was already packed and someone already singing on the platform. "So this is the place you wanted to take me to all week?"

She rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward to reply, "Yes it is; it has great food and sometimes great music. I hate to admit it, but their buffalo nuggets are great."

He snorted out a laugh and gave a slight shake of his head. "I guess I'll have to make it a point to try them." He spared another glance around trying to see if there was a waiter, waitress or whatever the PC correct term was nowadays. "This place is packed; I guess we'll have to wait to order."

She gave a slight frown and huffed out, "I'm not waiting; I'll go find us a waiter."

Freddie snorted out a laugh and nodded. "Okay, I'll just enjoy the music."

Jade frown was replaced with a soft smile towards him as she got up and headed for the bar while he turned his attention back to the platform to listen to the somewhat talented patron singing.

He enjoyed the music only for about a minute or so when he caught some moment from the peripheral of his eye and assumed that Jade had returned, but discovered when he looked across from him a brunette teenager took Jade's seat. The brunette grinned then rested her chin in her hand as she stared into Freddie's eyes. She greeted with a warm and inviting smile, "Hello."

The brown eye teenager smiled hesitantly and looked to her for a moment before he was able to reply in a friendly tone, "Hi."

She studied him for a moment then her smile grew bigger as she answered, "You're Freddie Benson from iCarly."

Freddie gave a relieved chuckle as he realized that she was just apparently a fan, so he gave a friendly nod as he answered, "Yes I am."

"I'm Hayley."

"Hello Hayley."

She gave him a coy smile as she continued, "So are you here by yourself or is Carly and Sam with you?"

He immediately frowned at the assumption of being attached at the hip to the web-hostesses, but he quickly realized that it wasn't an unreasonable assumption because everyone knew they were friends outside of the show… well until they learned differently. "I'm actually with someone else tonight. We're just celebrating my first week in L.A. and she's showing me around. She just went to get a waiter."

Hayley grinned and with her free hand patted the top of Freddie's left hand. "I don't see her and you look kind of lonely."

Freddie looked down at the hand and felt a sudden uneasiness with the contact. She was very attractive he could easily admit to himself and she was obviously interest in him, but something in his head railed against even giving her the time of day, but he couldn't figure out way. Was it still some misguided loyalty to Carly in not wanting to _seriously_ attempt to flirt with someone? Was there another reason? He didn't feel like debating the reasons why in his head at the moment, so he decided to just listened to his instinct and was about to gently turn her down, but the annoyed voice of Jade stated behind Hayley, "Turn around."

She turned around and immediately frowned when she saw the girl with blue streaks in her hair with a waiter behind her.

The singer smirked as she replied, "Now you see her _again_."

She slightly shook her head then asked, "Still don't see much."

Jade frowned and took a step forward.

Hayley stood up from the seat and remarked, "You're with him?"

Jade chuckled softly then asked, "Yeah, does that surprise you?"

Hayley returned with a smirk as she replied, "That he'd waste his time on you? Yes."

Jade was about to snap when Freddie raised a hand in the hopes of calming everyone, "Ladies, we're just trying to enjoy a nice night out. We just want to have a good time."

The brunette turned her head to eye the Tech-Producer as she replied, "I could show you a good time."

Jade snorted out in disgust, "Wow, could you be any more obvious what you want?"

The brunette frowned and narrowed her look back to the pale teenager. "I know who he is and know that he's single so why do you care?" She raised an eyebrow as a thought occurred to her. "Or did your boyfriend finally dump you and you're just clinging to him hoping he'll give you the chance? Or maybe you're hoping he'll pity you enough to get you on iCarly and try to get a record deal with someone? It isn't hard to figure out how you could _persuade_ him."

Jade clenched her jaw for a moment then started to snap back when Freddie spoke up, "How do you know I'm not clinging to her?"

Both girls looked to him as each wore a perplex look on their faces.

He put on a boyish grin and replied casually, "I mean, who wouldn't want to hang out with a cool and hot girl that's got it all? Whether you're a guy or girl?"

Hayley blinked and frowned at the brown eye teenager while Jade smirked and eyed Hayley in triumph. Jade spoke with a hint of dismissive-ness in her voice as she commented, "If you'll excuse us, we want to eat."

The brunette shook her head then stormed off back towards the bar.

Jade ignored her and took her seat. The waiter was smart enough not to say anything, but just quickly take their orders. Freddie made sure not to forget the buffalo nuggets. He then left to quickly fulfill their orders.

A few minutes later, their food and drinks arrived without a problem. After taking a bite out of a buffalo nugget, Freddie shook his head and laughed, "Hayley looks like Summer Glau."

"Who?"

"The actress, you know from Firefly? Terminator? The TV show, not the movies," he explained as if it was obvious who he was talking about.

Jade shook her head and blinked as she had no idea who he was talking about.

"Never mind, she's a sci fi girl," Freddie laughed off.

"I guess you'd know then," she replied with a smirk.

Freddie narrowed his eyes and frowned.

She studied his face for the moment and realized quickly that he didn't take it the way she intended. "That's a compliment."

His eyes opened up wider. "Oh… that's a first from someone."

"Including your friends?"

He snorted out. "Especially my so-called friends… they don't even respect my hobbies."

"You're supposed to make fun of everyone else, not your friends… unless of course you both know you really don't mean it… sometimes I forget about that with Cat," she finished with a surprise hint of sadness. "Fortunately, she doesn't care much."

He gave a sympathetic nod as she looked to the table and apparently was organizing her thoughts. However, for some reason a thought occurred to him and he started laughing.

"What?"

The Tech-Producer shook his head. "I just remembered something: I was talking with Spencer when he was making a costume for WebiCon and we were discussing all that 'geeky' stuff and Carly commented about why we wondered why didn't have girlfriends… I didn't have a girlfriend at the time because _I_ broke up with _her_ and she was already going after this guy Adam which failed badly in the end. She doesn't exactly have a stellar record on relationship either and she makes jokes about mine?"

Jade shook her head slightly as she asked, "Wait? You two dated before?"

Freddie frowned and looked down at the table. In a suddenly tired voice, "Briefly after I saved her life from getting run over by a taco truck. It didn't last… Sam suggested that Carly was just hero worshiping me and wasn't dating me because she really loved me. So, I took a step back and 'broke' up with her. I let her know that I still wanted to be her boyfriend after the whole hero-worship thing wore off and she would just have to tell me. She finally let me know she wasn't interested in dating me by starting to date Steven then she tried to get with a guy named Adam. What a way to break that news to me that she didn't want to be my girlfriend? Date another guy… I got the message loud and clear."

Jade quickly took a sip just to keep herself from saying something harsh. She finished swallowing the red liquid and took a few calming breaths as she quickly reassessed Carly and Sam even further in her head and they were not flattering. She let the sarcasm drip off of her voice, "How convenient of Sam: break you up with Carly then wait awhile to go after you herself?"

Freddie blinked then stared at Jade for a moment.

She asked in a concerned voice, "What?"

"I… I never thought about it that way…" Freddie shook his head. "No, too much time has past. It's been a year and a half ago and Sam just started liking me."

Jade raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. "You're really going to give _Sam_ the benefit of the doubt?"

Freddie looked down at his half eaten food and licked his lips then looked back up at Jade. "It doesn't matter anyway. Carly made her decision, Sam's made hers and I… I've made mine as well. I can't undo the past." He then turned to his drink and took a swallow.

She wanted to say something, anything, but she didn't know what to say. Trying to really comfort someone was unfamiliar territory other than Beck… who she really didn't want to think about at the moment. However, before she could attempt to say anything, Freddie motioned his head over Jade's shoulder to Hayley sitting at the bar with a blonde teenager as he sat is drink back down. "So how do you two know each other?"

Jade stared at him for a moment as her brain shifted gears to his question, "We had a singing competition a few months back. She was…" She paused as she thought back on the incident and slightly frowned. "She was hitting on Beck and she challenged me and Cat to see if she and her friend could sing better after I caught her flirting with him. We really won, but since her daddy owns the place she said she won. We complained, but they banned Cat and I from ever singing again." She grinned slyly as she continued, "We got them back with fooling them into another competition against Tori dressed up as a loser. We won and they had to take care of Trina for a night because she had her wisdom teeth taken out."

Freddie slightly frowned and his brow furled. "Why didn't Beck just shut her down right away?"

She blinked as his first thought had been on Beck. She frowned in return and asked coldly, "Why didn't you?"

Freddie laughed for a few moments and shook his head. "Because… I'm single and two I was caught off by the attention at first. Girls at my school don't give me that attention and any others see Freddie 'iCarly' Benson and don't usually come on that… smooth? Besides, I was about to say something to her when you rescued me."

Her frown was replaced with a perplexed look and asked slowly, "Rescue you?"

Freddie smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "You've been rescuing me all week remember? What's one more time to finish out the week?"

She blinked as she realized that she had forgotten about that little part of how other girls saw him: a nerdy geek or a celebrity with nothing in between. Jade looked down and took a sip from her glass then mumbled something.

The Tech-Producer raised an eyebrow. "What was that? I didn't catch that?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot. I just… never mind it was stupid."

"What?"

She sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I assumed you were like every other guy that would just allow a girl to flirt with you and act like it was no big deal. I'm sorry."

Freddie leaned back in his seat a little and frowned as he narrowed his look towards her. He took a leap with the statement, "I'm not Beck."

She immediately focused her attention on him then asked in surprise, "What?"

He continued in a stern voice with a hint of annoyance, "It's obvious to me who you were talking about Beck, not just 'every other guy'. I'm not him. If I was your boyfriend, I wouldn't just let Hayley or any other girl just flirt with me. I'd put a stop to it right then and there and let them know right away that I had a girlfriend. I may be flattered, but that I'm with someone already and they need to stop."

"Why?"

"What?"

Jade looked to him with a genuine curious look. "Why would you tell them to stop?"

His brow furled and replied as if he was stating the sky was blue, "Because allowing it is disrespectful to you and the relationship. You don't get with someone and then just let you eye seriously wander around and that's what you're doing when you let them carry on with their flirting. If you wanted to do that then you shouldn't get in the relationship in the first place."

Jade snorted out and gave him a bashful smile. "You keep surprising me Freddie Benson."

He grinned in return. "And I bet you have a few more surprises left in you too."

"I guess you'll just have to find out."

"Is that a challenge?"

She leaned forward with her elbows on the table and her chin resting on top of her laced fingers and a wicked smile on her lips. "I guess it is."

"I'm looking forward to it then," he answered with a laugh.

They turned back to their meal for a few more minutes then Freddie asked after taking a sip from his drink, "So, about this singing competition… what did Hayley sing? Just out of curiosity."

She shook her head and snorted out a dismissive laugh. "She sang one of Ginger Fox's songs. She was so bad, I blocked it out."

Freddie rolled his eyes as she thought back on the singer. He shook his head as he recalled those few days of 'working' with her and decided to relay the story. "Ginger Fox, she was a nightmare to work with. She threw a fork in my shoulder," he replied as he recalled the events and unconsciously reaching up and rubbed his left shoulder with his fingertips. "She can't sing or dance. She lipped synced the song that night and it wasn't even the right song. We just covered it up with camera tricks and a lot of smoke."

"That's right; you did put that show together for her?" Jade let out a soft breath. "She really lipped synced the song?"

Freddie nodded. "Yep, because the girl can't sing. I don't know if she could ever sing without voice synthesizers and voice filters, but we got through the performance and re-launched her career."

"Aren't you full of hidden talents?"

He looked down at the table and allowed a soft grin to form on his face. "I guess so." He looked up and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "So are you going to sing?"

"I wasn't planning to sing. I'm not sure if the ban is still up for me singing."

He playfully nudged her in the side with his elbow. "Oh, come on. I think we can get around that."

She tilted her head down slightly and asked slowly, "Freddie?"

He gave her his boyish grin and raised an eyebrow. "You're going to deny me the chance to hear you sing? I've only got to hear you sing once, remember?"

She gave him a small frown at seeing that look and one word ran through her mind, 'you are such a charmer'. He'd probably make any girl that saw it putty in his hands, as if he couldn't already do it now, but she wasn't going to fall for it. She was not going to… "Fine, I'll sing something."

Freddie snorted out a soft breath and laughed for a moment. He got up from his seat and headed to the bar with Jade quickly catching up with him. He leaned on the bar beside Hayley and the brunette quickly turned her attention towards him. Freddie smiled that same boyish grin that he used to persuade Jade towards Hayley and commented sweetly, "I was wondering if Jade here could sing tonight, but she told me that she was banned from singing."

She frowned and was about to reply, but a gentleman with very short hair walked around with a smile on his face asked, "Sweetie, who is this?" He eyed Freddie then recognized Jade and appeared to have overheard his statement.

Hayley looked to her father, Mister Ferguson who wore a friendly disposition, and replied, "This is Freddie Benson; he's from iCarly."

He frowned perplexed as he asked, "i-What?"

His daughter replied, "iCarly, it's important. It's a popular webshow. A lot of people watch."

Freddie shook his head and replied with a laugh. "No, it's not really a big deal… we only broadcast to a million people or so." Freddie shrugged a shoulder and casually commented, "But I'd hate to tell people about my trip to L.A. and say that one of the places I stopped by was a disappointment and tell them why."

Mister Ferguson shook his head and replied, "We wouldn't want to disappoint you. She can sing anytime."

"Thank you," the brown eye teenager thanked with a grin. Freddie then motioned to the stage for Jade to sing.

Jade leaned over and whispered in his ear, "You're not part of the show anymore."

He grinned back and whispered, "Yeah, but she obviously doesn't know that and Carly isn't apparently too eager to advertise that fact."

She snorted out a laugh then headed towards the stage as Freddie went back to his seat. She spoke briefly to the karaoke operator then walked to the end of the stage. She took her seat on the stool that was still set up from the previous singer and adjusted the microphone that stood in front of her to a comfortable position. She glanced over at the monitor near her feet, but she knew she'd only need to occasionally glance at it, if at all: One and Only by Adele.

The music started playing and she took a breath. She spared Freddie a glance then towards the rest of the patrons before starting softly, "You've been on my mind, I grow fonder every day, lose myself in time… just thinking of your face, God only knows… why it's taken me so long… to let my doubts go, you're the only one that I want."

She took a breath and glanced towards Freddie, "I don't know why I'm scared, I've been here before, every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all. You'll never know if you never try to forget your past and simply be mine."

She grinned towards the crowed, but her eyes would travel back to Freddie, "I dare you to let me be your, your one and only, promise I'm worth it to hold in your arms, so come on and give me a chance, to prove I am the one who can… walk that mile, until the end starts."

He looked up to her in sheer awe as she continued, "If I've been on your mind, you hang on every word I say, lose yourself in time… at the mention of my name. Will I ever know? How it feels to hold you close and have you tell me… whichever road I choose you'll go."

"I don't know why I'm scared 'cause I've been here before, every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all. You'll never know if you never try to forget your past and simply be minnne! Yeah!"

Her eyes traveled back to Freddie and he was smiling back to her as she continued with a smile, "I dare you to let me be your, your one and only, yeah… I promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms. So come on and give me a chance… to prove I am the one who can… walk that milllle, until the end starts."

She paused and took a breath as the music continued to play for a few moments. Once the song reached the appropriate spot, she continued, "I know it ain't easy giving up your heart… I know it ain't easy giving up your heart… nobody's perfect."

"I know it ain't easy giving up your heart, nobody's perfect, trust me, I've learned it, I know it ain't easy giving up your heart, nobody's perfect, trust me, I've learned it, I know it ain't easy giving up your heart, nobody's perfect, trust me, I've learned it, I know it ain't easy giving up your heart!"

She looked Freddie straight in the eyes as he looked back in absolute wonder as she continued singing, "So I dare you to let me be your, your one and only, yeah, I promise I'm worth it to hold in your arms! So come on and give me a chance… to prove I am the one who can walk that mile… until the end of time."

She took one last breath to finish, "Come on and give me a chance, to prove I am the one who can… walk that mile, until the end starts!"

The patrons started clapping and drowning out whatever other sounds were in the place with a number of them standing up as they clapped. She gave a nod of her head to the crowd then stood up from the stool to make her way back to the table. She stopped when she saw Freddie shocked face.

"Oh my God… Jade that was… oh my God," he finished with a laugh then grinned from ear to ear. They exchanged looks until Freddie was finally able to speak again, "That was… that was incredible."

Her mouth formed into a thin line and blinked. She swallowed down a lump forming in her throat then replied slowly, "Thanks."

"No, I mean it; that was incredible… I mean… so you have the voice of an angel too?"

She gave him a half smile as she eyed him curiously. "Don't you think you're stretching the comparison?"

"Am I? You sure you're not hiding a pair of wings?"

"I'm not nice enough to be an angel," she replied with a smirk.

He smiled and gave a light chuckle then replied, "Most Biblical ones aren't. Why do you think the first thing they say when they show up is: 'Fear not'? Then again, you're not all that scary."

Jade let out a relieved laugh and allowed Freddie to escort her back to their table. They both retook their seats and Freddie couldn't get a smile off his face.

The singer took a sip from her almost empty glass and eyed her companion. She sat the glass down and commented with a smirk, "You're going to break your face if you continue to keep smiling like that."

He replied with a nod, "I just might, but that was truly amazing Jade. I'm just still processing it." He finished the last sip from his drink then continued, "Interesting choice of songs. Any particular reason you picked that one?"

Jade glanced down at her glass. She commented in a dry tone, "Oh, look at that, my glass is empty."

Freddie smirked and raised an eyebrow similar to when his friend Ashley from the PearStore pretend to be dumb the first time in front of Carly and Sam. "I'll get us some refills this time," he offered with a smile then picked up their individual glasses. She watched him go and looked over her shoulder as he passed her. She smiled as she rested her chin on her right shoulder to watch him reach the bar.

"Hi," a familiar voice to Jade's ears called out from across the table.

Jade turned her head back and looked up to see Steven Carson's smiling face as he stood on the other side of the table. She was further surprised when he took Freddie's seat. Her surprise turned into frown. "So, you're still in L.A.?" she asked rhetorically.

His smile faltered then rubbed his chin with a hand. "Yeah, still here."

"I thought you'd crawl under a rock after everyone found out what you did," she replied with a smirk enjoying rubbing salt in the wound.

"Yeah, I screwed up big time—"

Jade raised an eyebrow and remarked sarcastically, "You call that screwing up? Dating two girls at once in two different states isn't screwing up, that's just being a gank even if it was those two."

Steven frowned as he looked down at the table. "Well I'm sorry about that… never really got a chance to tell either of them."

She resisted rolling her eyes as she replied, "Why are you apologizing to me? I don't care and even if I did, I would just think you're sorry that you got caught."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean people can't change and start fresh with their life."

Jade's apathetic look turned to a frown immediately as his point was dangerously close to Freddie's goals and the thought of comparing him to Freddie in some positive light suddenly made her sick. That sickness threatened to turn into disgust as she realized the irony that he and Freddie were having to start over at that account of the same girl.

She leaned forward and commented with little patients, "Well start fresh with someone else on your little redemption trek, because I don't care. You should move along since you're in my friend's seat."

Steven licked his lips and looked down at the table for a moment. He whispered, "Just trying to be friendly."

Before Jade could snap back, she heard Freddie comment behind her in a cool voice, "Hi Steven."

The taller teenager looked up to see the former Tech-Producer give him a cold stare. Steven chuckled nervously then replied with a hint of apprehension in his voice, "Hi Freddie." He then looked to Jade. "This is the friend you're with?"

"Yes, he is," she replied with a sarcastic tone.

Freddie asked in a guarded tone, "So, what are you doing?"

He motioned over to the raven haired teenager. "Just talking to Jade."

Jade countered in a voice that conveyed her annoyance, "More like bugging me."

Freddie looked to Jade for a moment to catch the annoyance shining in her eyes then looked to Steven with a cold stare. "Well then I guess you need to be moving on."

"I'm not looking for trouble Freddie. I'm just speaking to someone with a familiar face, especially after what happened that night and well… a lot of people aren't thrilled to talk to me."

Freddie sat the filled glasses down on the table in front of Jade then looked back at the taller teenager. "Well, you already caused trouble when you cheated on Carly and on Tori. Neither one deserved what you did to them nor am I going to let you start any trouble with Jade. So why don't you head back where you just came from?"

Some of the other teenage patrons started discretely pulling out their cell phones and started recording what was happening between the teenagers as they realized who they were since many of them had coincidently been at Kenan Thompson's house party.

Steven got up from the seat and walked around the table to face Freddie. He took advantage of the slight height difference to look down at Freddie. "Don't you think that's enough? I've already been humiliated me on your show and now you don't want me to talk to other people at all?"

Freddie snorted out with a bit of a laugh. "You knew who you were dating. It's like dating Taylor Swift then being surprised if she writes a song trashing you for doing her wrong then making a whole lot of money on it. What did you expect was going to happen if or when she found out? And I don't care who else you talk to, but I don't want you talking to Jade because _she_ doesn't want to talk to you."

"Your jealousy is showing again Freddie. Have you always been jealous of other guys having girls you could never have or maybe you're the other guy Jade's two timing with?"

Jade's eyes widened as she took in a sharp intake of breath and glared at Steven.

Freddie clenched his jaw tight for a moment before whispered out, "Carly's not here to save you this time, so you should apologize to Jade then walk away you pathetic two-timing loser."

Steven shook his head slightly and a grimace formed on his face. "As if you could take me in a fight you little mama's boy, because everyone knows you are one."

The Seattle native smirked and let his left foot step back slightly. "Only one way to find out."

Freddie tilted his head slightly to the side as he eye caught the most subtle of moments in Steven's right shoulder. It was the same tell as whenever one of his fencing partners would make a lunge.

Out of instinct and training, Freddie shifted his weight to his back left foot and Steven swung wide and missed. Freddie shifted back to the other foot and swung with his left and giving the taller teenager a solid punch to his jaw. Steven jerked his head to the side just to see Freddie follow up with a right hook. Freddie's fist connected with the left side of his face and the other teenager spun from the impact and crashed into the round table as Jade jumped out of her seat and onto her feet. Steven knocked over the table as he continued straight into the floor. The rest of Jade's and his food and drinks went flying and mostly crashed onto Steven's back making him more into mess. He twitched for a moment or two, but he was in no hurry to get up.

Everyone around jumped up from their respective tables to see what had happened and immediately started whispering to each other.

"Now who was going to pound who silly?" Freddie remarked to himself.

Freddie caught his breath and grinned until he felt the pain in his right hand. He hissed out in pain, "Ow," as he held his right hand with his left hand. "What is his face made out of? Steel?" he spoke to no one in particular.

Jade let out a shocked breath as she looked to Freddie. She rested a hand on his shoulder and asked with evident concern in her voice, "Are you alright?"

Freddie turned his head to look at her and laughed, "Yeah, I got great footwork from all my fencing. He didn't lay a punch on me, but…" He started shaking his right hand. "I'm going to be sore in the morning."

He turned to Hayley and Tara who were quickly approaching from the bar and gave them an apologetic look. "I'm sorry ladies for the… commotion. I think we'll be going. I think I've made enough of a mess."

West Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Jade sighed as she stood at the open freezer and pulled out a handful of ice from the loose tray to fill another Ziploc bag in her other hand, since the one that Freddie held against his right knuckles from the Karaoke Dokie had mostly melted.

"Those buffalo nuggets were really good," Freddie commented from behind her as she zipped the bag up and closed the freezer door. She rubbed her hand on her jean covered thigh to get it warm as she approached the sitting Freddie at her kitchen table.

She absently commented back as she took a seat catty-corner on his right to him, "Yeah, they are good." She held his right hand in her left hand and placed the ice pack on top of his hand with her other hand. He winced as the cold numbness had gone away a few minutes ago and now he was feeling the prickly sensation under his skin contrast with the warmth on his palm from her other hand.

She asked softly, "What was that all about? And just don't say you were defending me."

He looked up at her and gave her a cold and determined stare. "Defending you is and was good enough reason, but… I owed him that for making Carly cry…" He looked way and down at his hands and continued a suddenly tired voice, "I was originally going to do that after Carly found out that he was going with Tori… but she thought that he would pound me silly because I was just a nerd." He snorted out a breath and the corner of his mouth lifted up. "I guess I proved her wrong… and that's the last thing I owed her… and maybe I just needed to stand up for myself… I've learned the hard way no else is going to," Freddie finished with disgust in his voice.

Jade blinked and mouthed trying to find anything to say in response, but words failed her. She leaned over and pressed her lips softly against his right cheek and held them there for a brief few moments. He looked up to meet her compassionate eyes as she finally found some words she hoped were adequate, "Thanks… for standing up for me."

He returned with a soft smile. "You're welcome."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: I hope everyone has had a nice week. Thanks to all that read. I have two chapters for you today and the first is a dozy. Remember, it is just a story and no character bashing is intended (Dan already did a fine job of that in the arc.) I now know that the Freddie in this story took the opposite path than his canon counterpart.**

**BushwellFanNYC: Freddie owed him that especially if Steven was going to try something with Jade.**

**Billiegrace: Could Freddie actually care about Jade? That is a silly question especially since this is a non-linear narrative.**

**LanternFan: I'm glad you found the story and are enjoying it. Please share with others you know about the story.**

Chapter 15

Freezie Queen  
>Sunset Blvd.<br>Los Angeles, CA  
>Saturday, July 23, 2011<p>

_It was only a few minutes later when in the middle of their conversation, André's mouth dropped open while Tori tried to mouth something to Jade and Freddie, but she was apparently a lost for words._

_Jade blinked in confusion as to their sudden change in behavior. Freddie's brow furled as he looked to all of them and asked, "What?"_

_Tori pointed behind them, but it wasn't necessary._

"_Freddie, we need to talk," he heard Carly's voice call out from behind him. He immediately shut his eyes and shook his head. He let out a disgusted breath and turned in his seat see Carly, Sam and Spencer standing a few feet behind them._

"_Damn, both of you," he swore out as he shook his head in disgust._

Sam blinked at Freddie's response to seeing them as she, Carly and Spencer were standing a few feet away from the circular table that Freddie, Jade, Tori, Cat and André were sitting. The latter three were surprised to see them, but Jade wore a look of outright contempt on her face as she stared at her and Carly.

The blonde wasn't expecting that kind of reception, but she was more than able to quickly reply sarcastically, "Hello to you too."

Freddie gave a slight frown and shook his head as he didn't even attempt to hide his disgust as he stood up to face the trio. He looked to the blonde and replied in a sarcastic tone, "I wasn't saying hello. I don't want either of you to think that I want to see you." He caught from the corner of his eye Jade stand up and wearing a deep frown.

Carly and Sam noticed the singer stand up beside Freddie and both immediately noticed the unbuttoned over shirt she was wearing: Freddie's blue/white plaid pattered shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Carly's mind flashed back to seeing the pale teenager in just that shirt and boxers just a few hours ago. Sam remembered back to the school lock-in where he was wearing that shirt and she had kissed him.

Jade noticed their stares at the shirt and responded with replacing her frown with a wicked smile as she adjusted the shirt collar and shirt hem so the shirt hung well on her frame. The blonde and brunette frowned in return and all three girls understood the nonverbal message Jade had sent: _He's mine and don't either of you forget it._

Carly licked her lips and let out a tired breath to relieve the irritations she was feeling. She then met her former Tech-Producer's eyes and whispered, "You don't have to be rude."

Freddie closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. He opened his eyes to look directly at Carly and reply, "Well I don't know how else to make it any clearer that I don't want to talk to you. You'd think that not returning your phone calls and emails would have been enough to tell you. One would think me _leaving the state_ would have been a bigger hint that I didn't want to deal with you and do you know what? Me slamming the door in your face this morning should have made even the thickest person in the head realize that the other person doesn't want to talk to them and to top it all off, you had to follow me to figure out where I'm at and try to ambush me into having this conversation with you."

Carly took a deep breath then replied in a calm voice, "You just can't run away from your life."

"I'm not running away from my life… not anymore, I'm just cutting you out of it," he paused for a moment to glance at Sam to finish, "the both of you and it may hurt like Hell, but it is the smartest thing I can do."

Carly blinked as she stared at a person she really didn't recognize at the moment: his eyes were cold and his voice had a harsh edge to it that she had never really heard. She swallowed down her uneasiness then whispered out, "Would you please just talk to us?"

Freddie clenched his jaw and stared at the brunette. The nerve of her to ask to talk to him grated on his nerves because that's all they had done before he left, but she refused to listen in return. He wanted to just instinctively tell her no since he didn't see the point of it. However, he glanced to Jade and was surprised with a supportive smile. She leaned over and whispered in his right ear, "You're going to have to face them at some point and I'd rather you do it here with me than in Seattle alone… just like I'm going to have to face Beck."

He wouldn't let her face Beck alone. Of course he didn't have any concerns about her physical safety because it was Beck after all, but he would need to be there for emotional support. He let out a sigh then glanced over his shoulder to the other three Hollywood Arts Students. They each gave him a supportive smile. He nodded them his thanks then looked back to Carly. "Fine, let's talk, but let's see if you will actually hear what I have to say." He motioned towards the table where they were seated.

Carly and Sam each nodded at his offered and they and Spencer quickly borrowed chairs from other tables as to seat with them. Spencer was wise enough to sit in between Freddie and Carly with his sister on his right then Sam then Cat rounding out that half of the table. Unfortunately it placed Jade and Sam sitting across from one another. The raven haired singer stared coldly at the blonde and Sam was a little taken aback from the open hostility that few were ever brave enough to direct at her.

Cat grinned from ear to ear. "Hi Carly, Sam, Spencer."

Carly smiled at the bubbly redhead. Out of all the turmoil she was feeling, the sight of such happiness lifted her spirits at least for the time being. "Hello Cat, how are you?"

"I'm fantastic. You have to try the ice cream."

The brunette smiled and agreed to the suggestion. They rest of them exchanged pleasantries. Since they were there and didn't want to be bothered, they decided to order their own ice cream for the upcoming conversation.

Once a waitress came back with their ice cream, Carly tilted her head to the side for a moment before asking the biggest question on her mind, "Why did you leave?"

Freddie looked to his nearly finished ice cream and took a deep breath. He looked up and looked to Carly to reply calmly, "I had to get away from both of you. You made your feelings quite clear about the situation and I felt that my feelings didn't really matter in anything. When push comes to shove, Sam will always take precedence over me in your eyes." He looked to Sam and continued, "And I realized that I'm not going to let you make me life miserable anymore especially with trying to get into some relationship with you. I have a certain expectation of what love is supposed to be in a relationship and what we have right now. I realized that they can't coexist anymore. One has to give, so I'm getting rid of the belief that my life has to be miserable so that I can keep my idea of love."

The brunette replied in a curt tone, "That's not true; I respect your opinion and feelings."

Freddie cocked his head to the side and gave her a small frown with his eyes figuratively asking 'are you kidding me'. He replied in a deliberate calm voice as to try to keep his anger in check, "You hired Cort over my objections, he destroyed my equipment and you still wouldn't fire him because 'he was beautiful'. That's just one example out of many, but the big one is this: Why didn't you accept the fact that I don't want to be with Sam? I don't want to date her. I don't want to be her boyfriend, no matter how many losers you find in their mother's basements that can only shout 'Seddie' to somehow persuade me to get with Sam."

Carly snapped back louder than she intended, "Because you're making a snap decision without even giving her a chance."

Freddie chuckled for a moment then took another moment to catch his breath. He motioned to her with a hand and replied, "Oh, you mean like you've _not_ done with me for the last four years? You can date any loser that crosses your path, but you couldn't give me a chance? It is somehow wrong for me not to give her a chance, but it is perfectly alright for you not to give me a chance?" Freddie shook his head. "No Carly, it is either one way or the other. You can't have it both ways."

Carly narrowed her eyes as she looked at him and gave him a slight frown as she answered, "I gave you a chance and you dumped me."

Freddie immediately pointed to Sam and replied in a louder voice, "Because I listened to Sam tell me that you really didn't love me and it wouldn't last. I gave you up because I didn't want to take advantage of you and tried to do the right thing."

Carly blinked then looked to Sam with a confused expression.

The blonde gave her an even expression in return, but refused to verbally respond then turned her gaze at her half eaten ice cream. Carly inhaled a slow breath then looked back to face an annoyed Freddie.

"That's right: I listened to Sam and you know what hurts the most? She was _right_. You weren't giving me a fair chance and you let me walk out that night and you never said a word about the promise we made until you were interested in Adam." Freddie then smirked and continued in a sarcastic tone, "That's a great way of breaking the news that you didn't want to try again. I guess having a civil conversation with me about it was too much trouble for you… but not too much trouble for Sam in trying to convince me I should date her."

Before the brunette could reply, Sam spoke up in a surprisingly sad voice, "I knew it was nuts to think you could give me a chance and we are just wasting our time."

Freddie sighed and shook his head. "Sam, you've treated me like chizz for the last four years. You still hate me or did that magically disappear now since I left like your feelings magically appeared? You checked yourself into a mental hospital because you thought the idea of liking me was crazy. How much more insulting can you be towards me?"

Sam clenched her mouth shut and narrowed her eyes on him.

Freddie raised his hand and pointed at her. "That's reason enough why I would never consider you. You're thinking about hitting me right now just like you did when I visited you the first time and I wanted to talk about you kissing me." He looked to Carly, "She wants to hit me and you don't see _anything_ wrong with that. I can't believe it took me four years to realize it was wrong and I didn't have to put up with it."

Freddie shook his head in disgust. "Spencer? How long would you let Carly date a guy that hits her?"

The tall artist frowned then replied defensively, "She wouldn't date a guy that hits her. Dad alone would—"

Freddie quickly finished, "The Colonel would probably tear the guy apart, but I'm supposed to date a girl that hits me and treats me like dirt?"

Spencer mumbled under his breath, "He nearly tore Evan apart."

Carly puttered out, "You never complained before."

"I have complained before, you and everyone else laughed at me and no one cared. I shouldn't have had to complain in the first place because it was wrong."

"You never complained," Carly countered confidently. She wasn't sure why she was even arguing the point as she knew he was right about Sam mistreating him.

"Sam's fifteenth birthday party? One where she wanted to get with Pete? I complained during the toast and you all laughed. It's one big joke that she makes my life miserable, but I'm not laughing anymore."

Freddie leaned forward across the table to look Carly straight in the eyes. "Here's a better question: Steven cheated on you and made you cry and you wouldn't let Sam touch him, but you let her hit me whenever she feels like it? Tell me what I could have possible done worst than that to earn her beatings."

Carly's mouth started opening and closing like a fish as her brain refused to send any signals to her mouth.

He replied in a cold tone, "I know what I did… I loved you… I loved you and for some reason that must have disgusted you, so you thought it was alright for Sam to hurt me."

Carly chocked out, "I was never disgusted by your love."

Freddie shrugged his shoulders. "Then what did I do to deserve that? What did I do for you not to say one thing to Sam to stop her from hurting me? You had to realize at some point I was never going to stand up for myself because she conditioned me into thinking it would have been weird if she _didn't_ make my life miserable."

Sam spoke up, "Look… I'm sorry—"

The former Tech-Producer shouted back in a snap, "So what? You're finally sorry. You're only saying that now because you like me, not that you actually did anything wrong. Why should I accept any apology from you? The last time I accepted an apology from you, you broke a tennis racket over my head, nearly broke my arm and threw me out of a tree house two weeks later. You are a proud liar and I would be even a bigger fool to believe anything else out of your mouth especially now since it would be so self-serving."

Sam swallowed then looked down at the table.

Carly glared at Freddie and Spencer didn't look too pleased either.

Freddie snorted out a breath and shook his head. "Oh great, I'm the bad guy now for calling Sam out on all the things she did to me and what everyone knows she really is like. Maybe I should have humiliated you live on the show when we were on the air at Troubled Waters; it looks like I'm going to get the same treatment anyway. You still want to punish me for wrongs I _refuse_ to do."

Carly let out a disgusted breath and shook her head. "Since Sam is sometimes mean to you, you have to be mean back?"

Freddie turned his head just slightly to catch Jade form the corner of his eye rolling her eyes. He turned his attention back to Carly and replied with a smile, "It's easier to count the times she's nice to me than the times she's mean to me, so it isn't sometimes. Am I supposed to be impressed that sometimes we can actually have a decent conversation or play meatball golf without her deciding to hit me, or humiliate me or tell me she hates me for the nine hundred 'n first time or just plain insults me, because she needs to get off at that moment?"

Carly shut her mouth quickly as she thought on how to respond, but Freddie wasn't going to give her the opportunity. "This isn't about being mean back just as some form a payback. It's about protecting myself and doing what I want to do, not what either one of you want me to do. I have been nice and caring to Sam all this time and it has gotten me nowhere. I've been doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result from Sam… that's the definition of insanity, but I still do it anyway because I don't want to her hurt and a part of me actually cares about her, but… I'm not going to let her hurt me anymore."

Freddie shook his head then looked to Sam to continue, "I've tried talking to you before to get you to stop, remember? On the fire escape that night? I asked to just pull back a little, but you just told me in a nice way to go fuck myself and that you are going to continue to make my life miserable. You'll just apologize every few years so you can start fresh and clear whatever little conscious you actually have. I can't hit you to get you to stop, because I'm a guy and everyone will say I'm the bad guy even though you're the one that always hits me." He looked to Carly with a tired expression. "You'll stand by and always take her side and never stop her from hurting me, insulting me, even destroy my stuff without a second thought. You'll just put that damn goofy smile on yours and say that we are all friends while I hold tattered clothes in my hands or another broken lamp. You'll step in to protect everyone else, including Nevel, so the only thing I can do is walk away and be around people that actually care about me. You wanted to talk; well I've said my peace."

Sam looked down at the table with a hint of shame on her face, but Freddie knew it wouldn't last. He knew Sam would disregard the guilt in probably a few minutes and just replace it with anger.

Carly frowned and narrowed her eyes at him glaring as a spontaneous feeling of anger threatened to overwhelm her. "Care about you? Don't you mean sleep with you?" She turned her attention to Jade and glared at her. "He doesn't love you."

Sam and Spencer's mouths dropped open with that bombshell of a revelation then looked to one another.

Tori, André and Cat immediately looked to Jade, each with their own looks of surprise and bewilderment. The pale teenager frowned and stared harshly back at the brunette web-hostess on the verge wanting to ring her neck.

Freddie clenched his jaw tight and his fists even tighter just to maintain control of his anger. He thought back about a year ago when he picked up that knife off the Shays' counter top and really thought about stabbing Sam. It was a dark and disturbing thought that he wasn't that proud of thinking about, but even he had his limits on how much abuse he could take without something breaking. A number of responses went through his mind that he could have used to cut Carly down, but they would have hurt and embarrassed Jade just as much. So he decided on another option: retreat. Retreat, the very idea was revolting to him as he had done that with her for years, but he wouldn't hurt Jade just strike back. In soft, but firm voice he replied, "We're done Carly. End of conversation."

Freddie turned around and glanced at his companions. "I think it's time for us to go. I think this part of the afternoon is spoiled, but I think we can salvage the rest. So, what movie were we going to go see?"

Sam lifted a finger to point at Jade and snapped, "You slept with her?"

The brown haired teenager looked back at Sam with an even expression. "I said the conversation was over."

She growled out, "It's not over. You go on about all the crap I do, but all the time you've been here, you've been sleeping with her?"

Freddie pointed to her as he looked directly into Sam's eyes. "Enough! I don't explain myself or my actions to you—" He then glanced to the rest of the table including the other Hollywood Arts students, "or _any_ of you." He looked back to Sam as he continued, "Jade is my girlfriend and I'm her boyfriend and what we decide to do or not do is not anyone else's business but our own."

Sam narrowed her eyes on him and gave him a deep frown. "And you talk about letting someone know when you don't want to date them in an honest way." She then turned her hash glare at Jade, but the teenager was not intimidated at all as she stared back just as coldly.

Freddie noticed that her hands resting on the table were clenched tight into fists. He let out a breath and replied just as coldly, "I did let you know in an honest and respectful way in regards to your feelings. Neither you nor Carly listened to what I had to say and that's why we're all here, at a Freezie Queen in Los Angeles. Go home Sam, because you're not going to win this like you always do: with your fists and Carly turning a blind eye. You can't beat me into submission and Carly can't emotionally guilt trip me anymore. If you really do like me then you will be happy for me and leave me in peace."

Sam snorted out then replied, "Who is guilt tripping who now?"

"If you did care about me, it wouldn't be an emotional manipulation, but just what is expected of you, but at least we know now it wasn't about my happiness, just want you wanted. Always what Sam wants and to Hell with anything or anyone that gets in the way."

Spencer spoke up timidly, "Freddie's right. We need to go."

Carly and Sam looked to the lanky artist. Carly was about to protest when Spencer interrupted with a surprisingly stern voice, "You said your peace and he said his and now it's time to go. You're not going to come to some kind of agreement right now, maybe later when everyone is back in Seattle and there is more distance between what happened, but not right now."

Spencer stood up and looked to Freddie with a smile. "I'll see you around Freddie."

Freddie was caught off guard for the moment, but gave the artist a respectful nod.

Spencer then ushered Sam towards the door. She frowned, but didn't argue with him as she got up and headed out the front entrance with him behind her to make sure she wouldn't try to rush back inside. Carly looked at all of them and quickly exchanged goodbyes with them except Jade and Freddie. As Carly reached the door, she looked over her shoulder one last time and commented, "We're not done Freddie."

"Yes we are Carly. I don't want you or Sam to be a part of my life anymore. You don't care about me when it matters and I'm tired in pretending that we're actually friends. It's time we both moved on with our lives."

Carly blinked and that spark of life Freddie always shined in her eyes faded just a little. She was out the door the next moment.

Freddie's shoulders slumped and he sighed, draining the anger away and looking at the floor. He felt alone until he felt an arm around his shoulders. He turned his head to see Jade looking at him with a look of compassion.

He gave a half crooked smile and whispered, "Welcome to my life."

Jade's other hand cupped his right cheek and pulled him into a soft kiss that lasted only a few moments. Their eyes met after she pulled just an inch or so apart so that she could whisper, "No, welcome to your new life."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 9, 2011

Jade had her arms crossed and let out a breath as the waiting was finally getting to her as the plane's arrival had already been delayed twice as she and Freddie sat in the waiting area for arrivals and departures. Tori and Trina's parents were waiting eagerly a few rows behind them along with André's grandmother. They were surprisingly maintaining a civil conversation. Freddie sat in the seat beside her and allowed his own worry of Jade to appear on his face. Jade finally decided to get up and started pacing back and forth in front of the row of seats. After watching her pace for a few times, Freddie got up from his seat and blocked her path and the pale teenager almost crashed into him. He caught her gently by the shoulders to stop her gently in her tracks.

She looked up at him and frowned with a hint of irritation in her eyes.

In a calm voice, Freddie stated, "They will be here. You just need a little patience."

Her voice was short and crisp as she replied, "You said that an hour ago."

He gave her a comforting smile. "Yeah I did. I can't control the weather Jade, so all we can do is wait."

She gritted out through her teeth, "I know; it's just… so frustrating to wait!"

Freddie let out a breath and gave her a half smile. "Yes it is, but… at least you have me to wait with?"

Jade looked down at his chest and whispered out, "Yeah, I have you."

He chuckled as he replied, "Yeah… you could always be waiting with Sinjin."

She looked up and frowned. She whispered coldly, "Don't joke about that."

Freddie laughed and the laugh brought a hesitant smile to his companion's face that he was grateful that reached her eyes.

Jade reached up with her left hand and patted Freddie's hand resting her right shoulder. She smiled as she began softly, "Freddie—"

André threw up his hands in closed fists and shouted as he walked through the airport terminal, "We're home!"

The pair turned to the shout from the songsmith and Freddie dropped his hands away from Jade's shoulders. For a brief moment, Jade missed the soft contact of his hands.

Neither was able to respond as the younger Vega sister ran up towards the pair and she threw her arms around the back of Freddie's neck as she pulled him tight to her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," Tori babbled then started kissing each of his cheeks repeatedly.

Jade frowned and out right glared at Tori as he patted the brunette on the back and laughed, "You're welcome."

Tori pulled back and looked at the former Tech-Producer. She let out a sigh of relief as she replied, "There is no way I can ever repay you for getting us out of there."

Freddie let out a breath and grinned, "Let's just say you owe me one in the future, okay?"

"Deal," she laughed out.

Tori turned to Jade and surprised the pale teenager by pulling her into a hug. "I even missed you too."

"Gee, thanks Tori," she replied slowly and raised an eyebrow as she looked to Freddie. The brown haired teenager was of no help as he was stifling a laugh at her apparent predicament. Tori pulled way from Jade and let out a relieved laugh.

Trina whined, "I want to go home and relax in a nice bubble bath." She looked past them and saw her parents approaching. She brushed past them and called out, "Mom! Dad!" She then looked over her shoulder and called out, "Thanks Freddie!"

Freddie raised a hand and waved, "You're welcome."

Tori rolled her eyes at Trina's behavior. She shrugged a shoulder and looked to Freddie to apologize, "Sorry about her… I'll be right back?"

"Yeah," he replied with a nod and a smile.

Tori made her way to catch up with her sister to reunite with her parents.

André approached and shared a brief hug with a smiling Jade. "Good to see you my twisted sister."

She snorted out a laugh as André pulled away. "I'm glad you made it back."

The song writer then turned to Freddie. "You're a lifesaver Freddie," André laughed as he patted Freddie's shoulder.

"You're welcome," he answered with a nod.

Cat quickly joined them with a big grin and waved, "Hi!"

The three turned to her and Freddie smiled at the pretty redhead as he replied, "Hey Cat."

"Hey Freddie. It's nice to see you," she replied and quickly hugged him. She gave him a playful peck on the cheek.

Freddie laughed at the high spirited redhead and patted her on the back. He grimaced only for a moment when he forgot about how sore his right hand was as he patted her back. He released shorter teenager and asked ignoring the pain, "You too. Are you okay?"

She eagerly nodded. "Yes… I joined a prison gang and taught them how to dance. I have to remember to send them T-shirts."

Freddie glanced to Jade, but the blue streaked hair girl shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

Rex's irritated voice interrupted any future conversation as Robbie approached carrying what was in essence his alter-ego. "You left me in a trunk for days."

"I'm sorry, I was in prison. I couldn't exactly let you out."

Rex turned his head from side to side. "Robbie, I am never going with you to another country again!"

"I didn't mean to kill his octopus!"

"Whatever, take me home and give me a bath," he replied sarcastically.

The brown eye teenager greeted the pair with a nod, "Robbie… Rex."

"Hey Freddie," Robbie replied in a sigh.

"If it isn't a third of iCarly? Did you bring Sam? I'm still eager for a rematch."

Jade frowned at the mention of the name, but Freddie calmly responded, "Nope, it is just me down here for the summer."

"Well that stinks because I was ready to whoop her when I heard you were back in town."

"That would be an interesting rematch," Freddie replied with a smirk.

"Yes it would, because Robbie here can't rap out of a wet paper bag and I have to do all the heavy lifting."

Robbie rolled his eyes then looked to the rest of them. Freddie laughed and Robbie frowned, but the laughing teenager waved him off. "No Robbie, I find it funny that Rex is saying he's doing all the heavy lifting when he can't actually move his arms."

If the puppet could actually frown, Freddie that was the moment as he closed his mouth and looked at him. "Take me home Robbie," he replied a few moments later.

The curly dark haired teenager sighed then replied, "I need to go to baggage claim and meet up with everyone later."

They waved as he passed them and off to claim his luggage. Freddie and Jade shared a brief look and laugh. Cat and André spared glances with one another to see if the other understood what was going on between the pair.

Beck was the last to slowly approach the group and they for the most part went silent. They each looked back and forth between the Canadian born and the pale teenager.

Jade swallowed nervously as she looked to her ex-boyfriend. "Beck."

He gave a bashful smile and ran a hand through his long hair. "Jade."

Freddie leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

The gesture made Beck raise an eyebrow, but didn't have a chance to say anything as Jade walked over and hugged him. He didn't hesitate as he returned the hug.

Jade whispered into his ear, "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

He rubbed her back up and down as he whispered, "Okay… I promise."

Freddie smiled as he watched the former couple reunite, but for some reason, his smile didn't feel completely genuine. That little bit of doubt confused him, but buried it in his mind quickly.

Jade pulled back from Beck, but remained in his arms and gave him a relieved smile. "Are you okay? Really?"

He nodded and gave her his usual cool demeanor smile. "I'm fine."

She let out a sigh of relief as she looked in his eyes and knew he was being truthful with her. She wanted to not let go and just kiss him, but she had already lost him that way. So reluctantly she pulled away from him to get a little space between them. She brushed some hair out of her face and took a moment to look at him. He looked well and none the worst for ware. He still had that happy and carefree look in his eyes and smile on his face… and it killed her a little inside.

The taller teenager asked with a hint of a smile, "Are you alright?"

She shook her head casually and replied, "Oh, fine. I've been doing great."

Freddie rolled his eyes and sighed loudly catching their attention. "She's been worried sick about you."

Jade turned her head and glared at Freddie, but he returned with a smile. "See, I told you," he directed the comment to Beck with a bit of laughter in her voice.

She continued to glare as he smiled at her in return until her mouth cracked a small smile. She finally replied, but kept looking at Freddie, "Yeah, I was worried… just a little."

Beck's smile was replaced with a confused look at the sight of Freddie just blowing off Jade's usual threatening manner and more surprised that Jade responded with agreeing with Freddie somewhat. Cat and André may have noticed too, but they didn't comment. He didn't get a chance to comment as Tori came running back and put an arm around André's shoulders and another around Cat's shoulders. "So, how are we going to celebrate being home?"

Jade replied with a role of her eyes and in a short tone, "We were going to take everyone to Wok Star tonight."

The brunette replied with a laugh, "That sounds great: real food and a relaxing setting."

Cat piped up, "I want some sweet and sour sauce."

André replied, "So you finally realized what it's called?"

The redhead clapped happily as she replied, "Yes."

Beck laughed at them carrying on and glanced towards Jade as she allowed herself a smile at their banter.

Soon Trina and the Vega parents approached with André's grandmother in tow and got into the conversation.

Freddie glanced around as the students and their family members were exchanging their happy reunions and grateful for being back in the US. A disheartening feeling crept up the Seattle native as he realized that he was the outsider in this reunion (and not just in regards to the reunion) even if he was partially responsible for bringing them back together. He slowly started stepping back in the hopes of slipping away without notice (not that he was really expecting anyone to notice).

"Where are you going?" Jade's voice called out in concern.

Freddie stopped in his tracks and let out a sigh. He slowly turned around and looked to Jade's concern face. She quickly walked up to him and stood close enough to invade his personal space.

"I was…" he thumbed over his shoulder and licked his lips. "I was going to go back to my hotel room. You need to catch up with Beck and I was just going to meet up with everyone tonight."

Jade blinked and tried to figure out something to say. She gently took hold of Freddie's right wrist and looked him in the eyes. In a soft voice, she finally replied, "You don't have to go."

Beck had caught up with Jade as she walked to Freddie, so he was close enough to overhear their conversation. His eyes widened from her statement and her gently taking the other teenager's wrist.

Freddie motioned with his head towards Beck and smiled at his pale friend. "You go spend the afternoon with Beck… I'll be fine… maybe get some World of Warlords time in you haven't let me get with all that Gears of War gaming."

She nodded her head and reluctantly let go of his wrist. "Right… yeah, I need to catch up with Beck." She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat then continued, "See you tonight at seven at Wok Star?"

He smiled one that felt real this time and replied, "Yes, I'll see you there at seven. Call me if you need a ride, but I doubt you'll need one."

"I will, so…"

"Later Jade," he gave a soft laugh and gave her a nod then turned to head out of the terminal. Once he was a few yards way, he looked over his shoulder and gave her a smile as he waved back.

She gave an even expression, but her eyes weren't so reserved in hiding her feelings as she lifted a hand and gave him a slight wave that didn't rise above her shoulder.

Once he was out of sight, Jade felt a sinking, empty feeling inside and suddenly very cold.

Beck remained silent as he didn't know what to make of what he just saw.

Once Freddie was out of the airport and made it to the driver's side door of his rental car, his shoulders slumped and felt the same wave a loneliness he felt the first time he walked out of the airport when he first arrived out from Seattle. He shook his head and reached for his keys out of his pocket so he could get as far away and quickly as possible from the airport.

**Author's Note: A little bit of the past and a little bit of the present. That was a rough conversation with Carly and Freddie. Jade and Beck's conversation after leaving the airport is next week and you get details of why they broke up. See you then.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I hope you have had a pleasant week. I hope these two chapters will be quite illuminating and enjoyable. **

**Julefor: Thank you for your review. It is an interesting pairing indeed.**

**For those of you reading my other story, 'iWould Have Pounded Him Silly', you'll notice that I missed my last two regular updates. I'm going to try to update that one sometime this weekend and be back on schedule for next week. I wasn't feeling too well this week and what I had completed was not up to my acceptable standards for a chapter. Thank you for your patients and readership.**

Chapter 17

Beck's RV  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 9, 2011

Beck opened the door and allowed her to walk inside the tin can of a home then followed her inside and leaving his luggage outside. Jade hesitantly entered and started looking around and walk down the middle of the interior of the RV that she hadn't stepped inside since they broke up weeks ago. She felt a little surreal being back as the place had been nearly a second home to her for nearly the last three years: the couch where they would work on their homework together, the center area where they would practice their lines even if they were in two different productions, and the bed where that he would hold her and they would just make out and cuddle many nights.

It wasn't that her home life was bad that she was over so much to feel that way about this former rapper's trailer. It was actually far from it. Her father may have hated her and disagreed with her career choices that brought with it plenty of daddy issues (she'd never fall back on some silly daddy issues and whine about it in public and use it as an excuse for anything because that was for the weak), but he didn't live with her and her mother as he had left and remarried. Her mother Ruby Lyn West was a strong and independent woman that always provided for and supported her (she allowed her to keep the facial piercings after telling her that she initially couldn't get them), her dreams (despite the odds against her being a successful actress) and her relationship with Beck. Her mother had told her one time that Beck reminded her of a dear friend when they were in high school together, but back then her friend was just a little more rough around the edges (with a mean right hook and better hair).

Jade turned around after walking to the end of the trailer and taking a quick glance at the now regularly cleaned fishing tank. She looked to him with a bashful smile. "So… you're good." She wanted to groan at the silliness of her question. She had been with him for three years and now she couldn't form more than simply sentences to talk with him.

He apparently ignored her hesitation and responded kindly with a warm smile, "I'm fine. We're all fine. It wasn't that bad."

"You were in prison," she replied in a sarcastic tone.

He answered in a good natured tone, "_True_, but surprising very friendly prisoners. André freaked out a little bit, but for the most part they just wanted to know how I got my hair to look this good."

"It's always the hair," she replied flippantly.

He snorted out with a laugh and ran his right hand through his hair, "I guess so… they were friendly enough that they were going to help us escape. We were originally going to do a dance routine to an old Michael Jackson song to distract everyone so that we could escape and try to drive to the border in a duck truck."

She blinked and mouthed something until she could form words, "Don't you mean dump truck?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No, _duck_ truck."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah, like that would have worked: a coordinated dance routine by a bunch of prisoners was going to distract the guards enough for you to escape. Really?"

He shrugged a shoulder and replied with a good natured tone, "I guess we'll never know… thanks to Freddie."

She looked to him and nodded as she replied in a soft and almost caressing tone, "Yeah, Freddie."

Beck gave her a curious look as silence fell between them as she avoided his gaze. He lowered his head and stuffed his hands in his jean pockets while she glanced at the familiar wall decorations. The Canadian born American cleared his throat then asked, "So… you and Freddie?"

Jade looked up and cocked her head to the side as she narrowed her gaze on the taller teenager.

Beck laughed nervously, "I'm not making any judgments about him, but he doesn't exactly seem your type."

Jade slightly frowned and let her brow furl in confusion. "My type? What are you talking about?"

He cleared his throat and looked to her with a hint of surprise mostly due to the fact that he may have misread her as she gave him a surprise reaction. "I just thought that maybe… well you looked friendly at the airport. You looked really concerned that he was leaving."

"We're friends, that's all," she replied quickly without thinking.

"You're _friends_?"

She nodded and replied slowly, "Yes…" _Freddie's my friend? Why would he think differently? What else would you call Freddie after everything this week? After last night at the Karaoke Dokie?_

"That's… a surprise," he commented in muted shock.

Jade crossed her arms. She asked with a hint of hesitation, "Why is it a surprise that we're friends?"

Beck tilted his head to the side. "You've never been one to 'make friends' very easily."

"We met up at the workshop and I was the only one he really knew. He was the only one I really could hang out with without having to sit with Sinjin and other guys making eyes at me or hitting on me for the whole workshop."

Beck formed an 'O' shape with his mouth as he replied, "Oh, so you're just 'friends' out of convenience? I hope he does think it's something more than that. You know, since he's here by himself for the summer."

Jade frowned and replied harshly, "Hey, we hung out that morning because we didn't have anybody else and we know each other from the party, but after that we've got along great the rest of the time and hung out in the afternoons and nights because…" She blinked and broke eye contact with him for a moment as she really thought about all the reasons why she stayed with Freddie. She looked back to Beck and gave him a cold stare as she replied, "He's a good guy and don't you dare judge me about the people I hang out with."

He replied defensively, "So you're seeing each other outside the workshops? Playing video games? Oh, and I never did judge you. I never said you couldn't hang out with handsome guys like you said that I couldn't hang out with pretty girls."

"Yes we are hanging out after we're done for the day and I told you why I didn't like you hanging out with them: they flirt with you and you let them without saying a word to them about it. I had a right to be concerned and I never flirted with other guys!"

Beck patted his chest with his right hand and raised his voice, "I never cheated on you. I never went around looking for other girls."

She snapped back, "You didn't have to look. Anywhere you go they just flock to you and you let them carry on as if you were single: Alyssa Vaughan, Hayley Ferguson…Tori. Freddie wouldn't do that."

The long haired teenager blinked and leaned back in surprise. "Why do you care if whether or not he would flirt with other girls? I thought you were talking about me? Why are you comparing us?"

She bit her tongue for a moment as she tried to figure out a response. "I… I don't care if he flirts with other girls. He's not with anyone so he can flirt with whoever he wants to flirt with, but we were together. It was…" She thought back to what Freddie said yesterday and replied, "It was disrespectful towards me and our relationship."

"Disrespectful? It wasn't disrespectful of you when you wouldn't just trust me? Or when you thought something was going on with me and Alyssa or that Tori and I are more than _just friends_? Just like you and Freddie apparently are _just friends_."

She snorted out, "Freddie hasn't hit on me like Alyssa texting you constantly or Hayley touching on you with Cat having to tell her that you have a girlfriend." She thought back on Freddie nearly tripping over himself trying to apologize for maybe inadvertently flirting with her. She had to suppress the smile at the memory.

"Every guy that gets a chance hits on you and they didn't care when we were together," he replied sternly bring her back to the present.

She frowned at his implied accusation. She responded with a cold tone, "_He hasn't_. He's not like Sinjin or all the other guys at school. He wouldn't do that even if he wanted to because he thought we were still together when me and him met up on Tuesday. I never encouraged any of them and let them know it every time it happened that I wasn't interested and you know it."

She let out a huff as she grinned as she realized the elephant in the room. "Why am I having this conversation with you? You're just trying to deflect blame away from yourself unto Freddie and acting like it's no big deal what you've done."

"Blame? So it is my fault we broke up just like last time?"

"_You_ broke up with _me_. You don't think you have a little responsibility?"

"A little? So does that mean you think you actually share some of the blame?"

She narrowed her look at him and shut her mouth. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. In a surprisingly calm voice, she replied, "I realize that I didn't make some of the best choices in our relationship, but that doesn't mean it's entirely my fault that it's over."

He nodded his head and gave her a serious look. "You're right… there are a lot of choices that we both made that got us here. We've already covered your jealousy and your inability to trust me, so how about we talk about me having to put up with your meanness for as long as I did and not insisting that you just be nicer? I guess I didn't make that clear when we broke up: you go too far, too often for the silliest and stupidest reasons and I can't deal with covering and making excuses for you and pretending what you do is alright anymore."

"Being nice? Ha," she finished with a laugh and a look as if questioning his seriousness of the question. "Being nice just makes you a target from anybody that wants what's yours or just to hurt you to feel better about themselves. Why don't you ask Freddie where it's gotten him in life? My meanness as you call it, keeps people from bothering me."

_Back to Freddie. How many times is she going to bring him up?_ He shook his head and replied in a tired tone, "And it keeps you from having to bother with them. Why do you think you don't have any decent friends you can count on? I saw your first tots' video where you asked the little girl that question."

Jade took in a sharp breath and took a step backwards. He hadn't forgotten how to push where it hurt.

Beck sighed and shook his head.

She uncrossed her arms and let them hang by her side. She whispered out in a tired breath, "I guess we should have had this conversation a while ago…"

"I guess we should have… Jade—"

She looked to the green carpeted floor and waved him off. "There's no point in continuing it… I'm mean and I get too jealous and you've had enough. I'm tired of watching you let other girls flirt with you and you emotionally guilt tripping me to get me to 'behave'. Maybe if we had this conversation a year ago the first time we broke up we wouldn't be here then we could have been able to salvage what we have."

Beck let out a tired breath as he countered, "It's only pointless if we don't want to have some semblances of staying on friendly terms… maybe somehow at least stay friends."

She looked up at him with a questioning look. "How does that work? Being friends after we've been together for so long?"

"I don't know… but were we really just going to avoid each other for the entire next year before we graduated? We'd have the same classes and we have the same group of friends."

The singer shook her head with her eyes downcast. She felt the same pain that she felt when he broke up with her start fill her again. She whispered out full of regret, "None of that matters. Like you said… like I said… I don't have any decent friends."

He ran a hand down his chin then walked to her and pulled her into a hug. He rubbed a hand up and down her back as he replied in a comforting tone into her left ear, "That's not true… I was wrong. We are your friends and just because we're not together and we have problems with one another, doesn't mean I just stopped loving and caring about you."

She was caught off guard for a moment from his unexpected hug. She whispered out, "I haven't stopped either."

He pulled back and gave her his charming smile. "Then I think we might be okay."

She cleared her throat and nodded her head, "Right, we just might."

Beck pulled away and took a step back to have a seat on his bed. He patted to his left side and asked, "So, want to tell me what you've been up to this week?"

She gave him a smirk and took a seat beside him. She looked to him and started, "Well, it started when I met up with Freddie…"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Wok Star Restaurant  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 9, 2011

Jade glanced at the digital time display on her phone and saw that it was already ten past the hour. She sighed and shook her head as she hadn't even touched her meal in front of her. She and everyone had arrived (except for Trina who didn't want to come and deciding she really wanted that long bubble bath) had already ordered and started eating. Jade ignored them for the most part as they exchanged useless dribble to her ears about their experience and how happy they were being home.

Cat fought with her chopsticks to eat the food in front of her as she asked in concern, "Where's Freddie? I thought he'd be here."

Jade looked up from her phone to look towards the redhead seated across from her and allowed her concern to play out on her innocent face. The pale teenager replied, "I don't know. I've called him twice but he won't pick up." She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach similar to the one that she had experienced at the airport. _He's ignoring my phone calls. He said I could call him any time._

Beck took a moment to finish chewing a bit of his egg roll then commented dryly, "I'm sure he's fine. He probably got involved in something and lost track of time."

She passed a curious glance to Beck sitting to her left and notice once again that his smiles were not reaching his eyes and he seemed distant (and not just for the fact that they weren't together anymore). He may have been fooling everyone else, but she could tell that something was off with Beck since they had left his RV. It was strange to her that it started after she had caught him up to what she had been doing for the last week and he went through a quick version of what happened in Yerba without really elaborating on anything. She didn't think he was hiding anything really bad happening to him, just that he didn't want to tell her a lot for some reason.

She thought maybe he could sense she was keeping something from him and was being just as guarded in return. He was right that she was keeping things from him. Most of her week of course had included Freddie in some form or another. She had edited out a few parts: such as Freddie treating her to dinner and a movie to cheer her up that night she found out that they had been arrested… _it was not a date_, her and Freddie's mutual confessions in the janitor's closet, and most of what happened at Karaoke Dokie (specifically her singing and the incident with Steven).

Tori raised her chopsticks and suggested, "Why don't you call the hotel he's staying at and see if they can page him? We can't let him miss out celebrating with us."

Jade met her eyes and gave her a cold stare. Freddie may be right about Tori really liking André without realizing it, but she didn't want her involved and complicating a relationship with another man in her life. She didn't take time to think about that thought too deeply.

"What?" Tori asked with expected confusion.

"Nothing," she replied with a relaxed shake of her head. She really just didn't want to deal with the brunette at the moment as she had greater concerns on her mind.

Her former boyfriend spoke up again, but this time with a chill in his voice, "He's fine. I don't think you have to worry about him."

Jade looked to him with her best reserved face as she studied his face. He was returning with a look just as guarded that he rarely used between them. He may have been known for his transparency as he indicated with the door to his locker, but she really knew how much of a farce that really was since actually finding stuff out about him was actually quite difficult. The look he was giving her was when he absolutely didn't want to give anything away.

However, at the moment she really didn't care what he was thinking and only held a cursorily curiosity about the reasons for him downplaying the fact that Freddie wasn't with them. Her only thought was on Freddie and as she met Beck's eyes, she made her decision. She reached into Beck's jean jacket draped over the back of his chair and pulled out his car keys. "I'm borrowing your car," she commented absently as she stood up from the table.

Beck's mouth hung open and blinked as he watched his ex-girlfriend walk out of the restaurant with his car keys.

Freddie's Hotel Room  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Freddie glanced at his blinking and vibrating phone beside his right hand as he was sitting at the desk in the common area of the hotel room and playing Worlds of Warlords on his laptop. He had already ignored the phone twice (along with the pain in his right hand controlling the mouse) as he noticed the caller ID each time. A part of him was surprised that she had called at all since she was with Beck and with the rest of her friends. He had figured as with everyone else, he would be forgotten about as usual.

A few moments later, there was a loud banging on the door. _"Open up Freddie! I know you're in there; your car's outside!"_

Freddie sighed as he got up from his seat at the desk and crossed through the living room and kitchen to reach the apartment door. He opened up the door to find a very irate Jade standing there with her leather jacket covered arms crossed and a deep frown on her face.

"You lied to me," she snapped as she brushed past him and walked inside the hotel room.

Freddie rolled his eyes as he shut the door and turned back to face her standing in the middle of the kitchen area. In a tired voice he replied, "I didn't lie… I just changed my mind about going out."

She replied in a short tone, "Without calling and not answering your phone?"

At this point, she was glaring at him and the Freddie from a few weeks ago would have been intimidated, but he shrugged his shoulders and replied casually, "I didn't want to interrupt you and Beck to let you know ahead of time and after, you'd be with everyone catching up. I didn't want to intrude."

Her angry expression faltered for a moment. "Intrude? You're their hero. You're the man of the hour."

Freddie snorted out and smirked coldly as he replied, "I remember the last time I was a _hero_. I'd prefer not to repeat the experience, because I know how this story turns out: people are all happy and express their admiration then they forget about you without a care. It happened at Ridgeway after the taco truck, so I'm going to go head and skip to the end and not play pretend about people caring about me. Let it wear off and I can see who cares and who doesn't which will turnout to be no one caring."

She replied harshly, "You didn't say anything yesterday when you were eager to celebrate. Where did this come from?"

"I wasn't necessarily expecting that kind of reaction from them. I just wanted to celebrate them being home, but you can do that without me and I don't want to deal with that."

She looked down at the floor and whispered in a surprisingly vulnerable voice, "So that's the reason why you lied… you said I could call anytime, but you didn't pick up your phone. I guess you were just thinking about yourself." _Not one decent friend you can count on… not even him._

Freddie looked down at the floor as he couldn't look at her as he realized that he had just hurt her. "No… that's not the main reason I didn't show up. It was a concern, but it pales to the main reason… I was thinking about you."

Her disheartened expression turned into one of confusion.

Freddie worked up a warm smile for her as he spoke, "Jade… the whole hero thing is true, but… what's more important is that this is your chance to get back with Beck and you don't need to baby-sit me. Just because I have to be miserable, doesn't mean you have to be. This afternoon and tonight was and _is_ your chance to patch things up with Beck. You may not get back together right away, but you'll get there and it was the perfect opportunity for you. I lost my chance… don't lose yours. Now please, go back to Wok Star and spend the evening with him."

_It doesn't matter if he's a decent friend or not, he's trying to get you back with Beck. Take it and run!_ A part of her agreed with that sentiment and wanted to walk right out that door and try to get back with Beck. That it didn't matter what she said about it being too late and that they could both be better people and be together once again. However, there was another part of her that got angry. She gritted her teeth as her anger flared inside her and threatened to overwhelm her.

She took another step towards him and let out her anger out in a shout, "Stop being so damn noble! Look where it's gotten you: standing right here arguing with me instead of being in Seattle with the girl you love."

He frowned in return and took a step forward. He looked her dead in the eyes then replied, "I'd rather be standing here arguing with you than to live that lie! With you it's the truth and no chizz. There are no pretenses or sugarcoated acting, but the real Jade West and not afraid to show it. I'll be as nice and as _noble_ as I want because those things are the only damn things I have left and you will not take them from me." He took a breath and continued, "If I can take a few minutes arguing with you and miss out on a dinner to help you get back with the guy you love then that's what I'll do, because _I care about you._"

Jade leaned away from him and took a quick breath due to that unexpected answer. She let her breath out slowly as she matched his determined stare with one of realization. She had ignored Tori's advice from last year and a part of her ignored Freddie on Thursday: _Well, you can't be nice to me when I've been mean to you. That's not how it works… Well, then, try being nice to me sometime. Maybe that'll work._ She blinked for a moment as she felt the back of her eyes sting, but she ignored it as she shook her head just slightly as she whispered back, "You can't be anything else can you?"

His brow furled as he asked, "What?"

"You can't be the selfish one. You'll be nice and caring and think about others even if it will cause you nothing but pain and sitting here by yourself… alone."

He looked up at the ceiling for a moment then shook his head refusing to meet her eyes as replied in a disgusted tone, "I get it; I'm stupid. I make choices to help other people and I'm the perpetual loser that will always be damned for doing the right thing…" He finally focused his gaze to meet her eyes and finished, "…but if I'm going to be damned then I'd rather be damned for whom I am then someone I'm not."

She swallowed down the uneasiness that was enveloping her and looked to the floor as she couldn't meet those brown eyes. She stood there for only a moment before shaking her head slightly and turning around to head straight to the door.

Freddie let out a slow breath through his nose and gave a nod that she couldn't see with her back towards him. He turned himself and headed back to the desk to get back to his game and allow a little bit of the hurt to be dulled.

Jade stopped as she gripped the doorknob with her right hand. Twisting the knob was an easy motion then she could be out the door, but her hand refused to move. She couldn't understand why as she stared at the pale hand contrasting sharply against the gold doorknob. Jade wasn't thinking at this point, but her mouth spoke without real conscious thought in a whisper, "How did you break up with Carly? I mean when you were with her after the accident?"

He turned slightly with his upper body and looked over his shoulder at Jade's back as she remained standing in front of the door. He took a moment to think then replied cautiously, "I ah… I told her I didn't think she was in love with—"

She let go of the doorknob and turned around to face in his direction with a reserved look on her face. "You already told me that, I mean, what specifically did you do after telling her that? Were you at your apartment and she left or were you at her place and you left or did you hang out for a while? What?"

He completed his turn to face her and shrugged a shoulder as he replied, "I was at her apartment. I was going to install some piece of hardware for the site. I brought up the topic of whether or not we were boyfriend and girlfriend and what had really changed about us that would make us want to be together. She decided that nothing had changed then on my crutches, I hobbled over to the elevator and took it down to my floor after I told her that I'd wait for her in case she really wanted to be my girlfriend."

She spoke softly in an almost haunting tone, "So she let you walk away?"

"Yeah," he replied regretfully. He smiled, but it wasn't a happy one as he snorted out, "It was the first time that I had walked away since everyone walks away or turns on me at some point in my life: my father, my so-called other friends at school for having a different opinion, Gibby… Carly. At least with Sam, she's always been honest with her hatred of me. She never pretended."

She stared at him and really looked at him for the first time if that was possible. His eyes were kind yet so sad. A part of her realized that in the janitor's closet when he was comforting her and wiping away her tears. Now she realized it completely and it hurt. He was hurting and it was hurting her.

She whispered out in a comforting voice, "I'm not Carly."

"What?" he asked in a tone that indicated that he was caught off guard.

She took the steps over to him slowly until she was just about a foot in front of him. She looked him in the eyes and whispered, "You said you're not Beck, but I'm not Carly either. I'm… I'm not your other 'friends', the ones that will turn their backs on you. I'm your _friend_ and I'm not walking away."

He snorted out with a laugh, "You're not walking away, you're walking back to the guy you love. I'm just the guy that could help you out a bit; that's how the story is supposed to end: Jade and Beck live happily ever after with that helpful someone fading into the background. Now go be happy."

Her face became even paler as what little color she had drained from her face as she looked to him with wide eyes. She had lashed out at him several times and tried to push him away, but he held his ground and took care of her… now he was trying to push her back… right back into Beck's arms. One thought screamed out in her mind: _You are a fool Carly Shay for letting him walk away!_

She slowly reached out with her left hand towards his right hand hanging beside his thigh. Her delicate fingers traced the back of his hand and palmed soothingly over his sore knuckles then the side of his pinky finger before reaching the point to gently clasp his fingers in her smaller hand.

He looked down curiously at her gesture and the touch of her soft hand. He looked up with hesitation to meet her greenish/blue eyes. She whispered to him with pleading eyes, "I'm not walking out of this room without you. As much… I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you are trying to do for me, but… there is no 'throwing yourself on your sword' this time. You either go back to Wok Star with me or I'm staying here. Either way, we aren't separating and you aren't being left alone."

Freddie's jaw slacked as he looked with wide eyes to the gothic beauty. He couldn't think of anyone that had made that stand for him and he didn't know how to feel or respond as his higher brain functions fizzled out from the conflicting emotions. He was only left with only instincts as he replied, "Okay… we'll go to Wok Star."

She broke into a relieved smile then let go of his hand to wrap her arms around the back of his neck and pull him tight into a hug. He wrapped his arms to the small of her back and held her tight as well. They held on to one another for a few seconds as he realized how soft and warm she was in his arms and she realized how comforting and safe it was in his arms.

They pulled back a little at the same time to meet each others eyes with their faces just inches apart. The brown eye boy smiled at the raven haired girl and spoke, "Thanks Jade… I…" He snorted out a soft laugh unable to think of what else to say.

She let the smile play on her face as she whispered, "You're welcome."

Freddie held his gaze for a few more moments before letting her go and turned back to head for his desk as he commented, "So, let me get my keys—"

She smiled as she interrupted and pulled out Beck's car keys from her black leather jacket pocket and dangled them from the end of her pointer finger, "You don't have to; I'm driving."

He turned to her seeing the keys and giving her a perplexed look. "Driving what?" he asked with a hint of curiosity.

Jade smirked as she replied, "Beck's car. He was kind enough to let me… borrow it."

"Borrowed it?" he asked with a hint of disbelief under that smile as he was pocketing his phone and keys for his hotel room off the desk top.

She snorted out a laugh, "The cops aren't chasing me yet." She grabbed his free hand then proceeded to drag him out the hotel room door.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this installment and see you next week.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Hello readers. I hope everyone has had a nice week. I know you probably get sick of reading this, but thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it a great deal and I try to respond to your reviews as much as I am able. Well, on with the story.**

Chapter 19

Wok Star Restaurant  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 9, 2011

Freddie held open the door for Jade and followed her a moment later into the restaurant. He glanced around and saw that it was fairly busy and if they didn't already have a reservation with the others, he doubt they would have gotten a seat.

Tori was the first to call out when she saw the pair entered the restaurant, "Hey, where have you been?"

Beck looked up from his plate and turned in his seat with a guarded look on his face as the pair approached the table.

Once they reached the side of the table, Freddie swallowed and tried to think of something quickly. "I ah—"

Jade spoke up with a smile, "He got too involved with his online game and lost track of time. He was so into it, he didn't notice is phone."

Freddie snorted out a nervous laugh and shrugged a shoulder, "Right… I love my World of Warlords."

The group apparently accepted the explanation with confirming nods then turned back their respective meals.

Jade stole a seat from a neighboring table and sat it down on the right side of the seat she left earlier in the evening. The former Tech-Producer took his seat beside the pale actress while she ignored some of the confused looks from the others at the table, especially Beck's reserved stare.

A waitress quickly came over and handed Freddie a menu. He quickly ordered the same meal he ordered for takeout earlier in the week.

Freddie and the rest of the table exchanged greetings and the usual pleasantries as his food was prepared and surprisingly returned quickly. He glanced at his nemesis: the chopsticks. Jade had taught him pretty good in how to use them, but his right hand tensed up at having to use them. Freddie opened and closed his fist a few times in the hopes of relaxing it to use the chopsticks, but immediately struggled to use them to pick up his noodles.

She snorted out a laugh, "You still can't get the chopsticks right?"

"I'm muddling through," he replied with a soft growl of pain as he tried to manipulate the chopsticks with his right hand.

Jade frowned as she realized why he was having additional trouble with the eating utensil. She reached over without a second thought and palmed his right hand from moving. She whispered to him, "Stop." He looked up and saw the look of concern in her eyes. He nodded and stopped trying to manipulate the chopsticks. She looked over her shoulder and scanned around for a server until she spotted one. "Hey! I need a fork for my friend."

A waitress quickly returned and started to speak, "We don't usually—"

Jade gave the waitress a harsh stare and whispered out in a chilly tone, "I'm not arguing with you. He needs a fork."

The waitress quickly nodded obviously fearful of the teenager and head to the back to retrieve a fork.

The dark headed girl looked back to the rest of the group that gave her a mixture of fearful and confused expressions from her attitude to her reaching over and stopping Freddie from eating for a moment.

Cat pointed to Freddie's right hand noticed that his knuckles looked bruised. Cat asked bashfully, "What happened to your hand?"

Freddie looked down at his right as he finally sat the pair of chopsticks down on the table. He looked up at the redhead and started, "Oh, I—"

"He had a disagreement with Steven… Steven lost," Jade replied with a smile. She wrinkled her nose slightly as she replied in a laugh, "He laid Steven out in just two punches. You should have seen it; he made a pretty good mess on the floor."

Freddie chuckled as he had an easier time with his meal, "I had just got us refills too."

Tori raised a hand and questioned with a mixture of surprise and disbelief on her face, "Wait, you saw Steven?"

"Yeah, then he saw Freddie's fist," Jade laughed out and patted Freddie on the side of his arm.

Beck raised an eyebrow as that was something Jade definitely left out of her story a few hours ago. He wasn't sure exactly how to react to the news that she had kept that bit of information from him.

Tori blinked and looked to the Seattle native. She tried to mouth something for a moment before finally getting out, "Wow… why?"

Freddie raised an eyebrow and gave her a boyish smirk as he replied, "I needed a reason? Him being a two-timing jerk that got on my nerves isn't enough?"

Jade snorted out a laugh and held the back of her left hand to her mouth to stifle it from become a full blown laugh. She glanced over to Freddie to give him a look of approval.

Tori subconsciously gave him an approving smile as she answered, "Ah… I guess not, but back up. Where did you see him?"

Freddie quickly continued, "We kind of bumped into him at Karaoke Dokie. Jade and I were celebrating early everyone coming home and Jade was already planning to show me some of the fun places around L.A. before the whole 'arrested in another country' thing happened. I went to get us some refills and came back to find that Steven was bothering Jade. He looked to me that he was trying to be all smooth and that nonsense to try to play her."

"Like he played me?" Tori asked in a regretful and an embarrassing manner.

"He's good and fooled us for weeks in Seattle. You can only see what he is in hindsight." He looked to Jade and gave her a knowing smile as he stated, "It was just one of many reasons he was failing miserably with Jade."

She smiled back in kind for the clarification.

Freddie looked back to the rest of the group to finish, "I told him to leave, but he didn't like that idea. He said some things he shouldn't have said when he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with Jade, I gave him one last chance to leave, but then he swung on me. He missed, I didn't."

Tori asked hesitantly, "Do we want to know what he said?"

"I'm not going to repeat them if that is what you are asking?"

Beck spoke up as he looked to Jade, "You forgot to mention that part… about Steven."

Jade cleared her throat as she glanced to her ex-boyfriend, "Well, ah… I didn't want to highlight him trying to ruin our night. I wanted to highlight the good things that happened over the week."

Beck's lips pursed for a moment before asking, "Ruin your night?"

The former couple traded uneasy gazes, but Freddie held his firmly on Beck trying to figure out what the taller teenager was trying to get at with the question.

Jade finally replied, "Yes, our night to celebrate… just like we are doing right now."

Tori looked back and forth between the former couple and caught the glance of Freddie looking at Beck. Some pieces were starting to fall into place as to why Beck may not have been too happy, but that was just speculation for the moment. In the hopes to stop anything before it got started, she asked eagerly, "So, how did you get us out of there?"

Freddie broke his look from Beck and focused on the brunette. "Oh…" Freddie thought for a moment to get his mind on the question then chuckled and shrugged a shoulder. "Carly's dad said he owed me one for saving his little girl's life as he put it, 'the whole jumping in front of a truck to save Carly' and I called it in… then he said we're still not even because saving Americans was his job so it didn't count."

André raised an eyebrow as he stated, "I don't understand."

Freddie cleared his throat then replied with a half smirk, "Carly's dad is a Colonel in the US Air Force… Special Forces… something about the Chancellor didn't like the idea of U.S. intervention in his little civil war for kidnapping underage American citizens. He either faced a bullet from Special Forces or a Hellfire missile from a Predator Drone. I don't think he was too thrilled with either option."

The rest of the teenagers gave each other figurative glances of concern.

Freddie gave a soft laugh, "Go US Air Force."

André nodded along and raised a glass, "Go Air Force."

It was then that the waitress returned with a fork and Freddie eagerly dug back into his meal.

It was also at that point that Jade brought up, "You are all lucky he knew someone to get you out of there."

Tori frowned and her brow furled with annoyance as she countered, "Hey, we had a plan to get out."

The blue and green streaked haired teenager rolled her eyes and dismissively replied, "Yeah, Beck told me about it. It was ridiculous. They probably would have shot you trying to escape. Let me guess, you came up with the plan?"

"Yes I did," Tori replied confidently.

Jade sighed, "Of course you did. You came up with another stupid idea on top of going there in the first place. You didn't bother even looking up the country you were going to?"

"I trusted Festus. Who knew that he would lie like that?"

Jade shook her head in disbelief to the childish answer. "You forget to find out that you were going to the worst country on Earth before you booked your trip and depended on the word of the guy that talks to himself in his trailer as if someone else is in there with him? I think you have a little responsibility for what happened."

"Hey!"

Beck glanced to Jade and raised a hand slightly. "Maybe you need to chill or—"

She glanced hard at her ex and snapped, "Or what?"

"I'm not going to speak to you for the rest of the night. You going to chill?"

Jade frowned as she turned her attention to her plate.

The rest of them at the table remained silent for moment until that uneasy silence was broken by the sound of something snapping. They looked to Freddie and saw that the plastic fork was broke in two, pressed between the top of Freddie's pointer finger and thumb of his right hand.

Jade looked to Freddie and saw the determined expression on his face as he looked directly at Beck. She was confused about it for a moment.

Beck wore an apprehensive look as he returned the look Freddie was giving him: a guarded stare directed at him by the shorter teenager. Freddie didn't take his eyes off of Beck as he commented, "That's kind of an empty threat since I'm here and the one taking her home at the end of the night."

The longer haired teenager blinked in response to the challenge. He shook his head and replied out with a sigh, "I guess old habits die hard."

"Habit?" Freddie asked in a chilly tone. Freddie glanced towards Jade and saw a look of embarrassment on her face with a hint of blush. He looked to Beck with his stare turning from one of just guarded to a harsh stare. "It's a habit that better has just died and stayed dead."

The other occupants at the table got the message and individually started wondering what exactly had gone on between Jade and Freddie over the last week and if it was more than just friendship, especially Tori… which made her wonder where exactly Carly was in this picture.

Beck cleared his throat then looked to finishing his meal.

Freddie commented dryly, "I need another fork. If you will excuse me?" He didn't bother waiting for an answer as he got up to head for the checkout register.

Jade turned in her chair and watched him with a look of uncertainty as she internally debated the reasons for Freddie's reaction.

André leaned over to whisper in Tori's ear. "At least Beck didn't try to put her in a time out or—"

Tori's mouth formed an 'O' and she shook her head before whispering. "Or Freddie might want to put Beck down in two punches."

Jade's eyelids opened wider at overhearing their speculation, but kept her face turned to hide her reaction.

Freddie returned a minute or so later and returned to eating his meal in silence. He watched as the rest exchanged casual conversation and enjoying each other presence as a group of friends. He occasionally exchanged glances with Beck to just keep an eye on him. Watching the taller teenager attempt to manipulate Jade into doing what he wanted disturbed him and reminded him of all the times Carly would do 'Please, for me?' routine to get him to do stuff. He may have partially agreed with the sentiment Beck was trying to convey, but the method was clearly wrong to the former Tech-Producer (even if Jade said she could be too mean at times). _Why not simply have a conversation with her about it if it bothered him so much?_ Freddie pondered.

Freddie didn't dwell on it for long as he finished his meal and turned to his fortune cookie. He let out a breath and picked up the fortune cookie. He crumbled it in his hand then pulled out the strip of paper with his apparent fortune. He spoke loud enough for the rest of the table to hear him, "Your life will be filled with disappointment." Freddie snorted out. He glanced at the other occupants at the table and dryly commented, "Figures."

Jade reached over and yanked the strip of paper out of his hand. She tore it in half then another half and another until it was a shredded pile of paper on the table in front of her.

The rest at the table looked on in surprise and confusion as watching her behavior in regards to Freddie made less and less since to them, well, except for Cat who thought it was sweet.

She cracked the fortune cookie hard on the table. She handed the crumbled cookie to Freddie where he took it with a raised eyebrow in confusion.

He pulled out the slip of paper out and crumbled the remains of the cookie on the plate with his other hand. He looked towards the paper and read it out loud, "Your life will soon be filled with great hardship, but greater rewards."

Freddie raised an eyebrow as he looked at the fortune. He thought it odd that it seemed to be describing his past more than any kind of future.

Robbie frowned and pointed out, "You just can't give him another fortune."

"Well I just did," Jade answered with a bit of irritation in her voice and daring Robbie to really challenge her.

He shut his mouth quickly and returned to finishing the last few bites of his own meal.

The brown haired teenager looked around to the rest of them and stated as casually as possible, "Well that was interesting… so how else do we want to celebrate?"

West Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Jade felt an eerie sense of déjà vu as she walked towards her front door with Freddie by her side. _She was not coming home from a date with him_, she told herself as they were coming back from another movie the group had decided to go see together after leaving Wok Star. It wasn't a date just because Freddie sat beside her on one side and Cat on the other with Beck sitting with Tori and André. It wasn't a date that he had gone to get her extra popcorn when she ran out during the middle of the movie. It wasn't a date as he had kept his word that he was attentive of her and then the one to take her home.

Those thoughts even crossing her mind just added confusion on top of the conflicting emotions she was experiencing. She hated to admit it, but the long day had played with her emotions to near the breaking point swinging between happiness, relief and dragged up pain revolving around Beck… and Freddie.

Once she reached her door, she turned with an apprehensive look on her face to meet her companion. He looked just as hesitant to her eyes as he stuffed his hands in his jean pockets. The dark haired teenager couldn't think of anything really to say to him. She didn't know how to exactly end the night after the emotional rollercoaster of the day. As she watched his bashful expression, she realized how much he had been an anchor for her as she had been for him.

Each just watched the other to see who would make the next move: her saying goodbye and entering her home or him saying it first and heading back to his car.

Freddie was feeling the same thing she felt: he didn't know how to end the night, but for more tangible reasons. He was about to speak, but Jade was a moment quicker, "Interesting day?" She immediately regretted asking the question as she suppressed the need to groan. She felt stupid and embarrassed at stating the blindly obvious.

Apparently Freddie didn't notice or care and replied hesitantly, "I guess it was..." He took a deep breath then spoke, "Look... I know it may not have been my place to snap at Beck, but... I couldn't let him think what he did was right. He shouldn't do that to you. You're not a child and he shouldn't speak to you as such."

Jade was caught for a moment by the confession, but a moment or so later gathered her wits and gave a slight nod. She wished she would have said something to Beck about that behavior the first time they had broken up briefly as she had told him earlier that day. _One of many regrets._

She didn't know why, but she needed to know his answer, "You don't think I was too mean?"

Freddie shrugged a shoulder as he replied, "I thought you might have been a little too harsh, but—"

"I have my reasons to be angry at Tori," she snapped and stared coldly at him for an instant.

He gave her a soft smile in response then took a quick breath and replied before he could second guess himself, "I'm not saying you don't and I know right now that I'm the last person to give anyone advice on how to deal with anger, but…"

She blurted out, "It cost me Beck."

"What?" he quickly asked as he was caught off guard with the interruption.

She was just as caught off guard herself at saying such a thing, but it rang true… because it was true. She wasn't an innocent bystander at the ending of her relationship with Beck. She openly admitted that her behavior was a considerable factor in their breakup, why not admit it to Freddie (a second time)? Why not to herself?

She took a calming breath and just let the words flow that wouldn't earlier, "What I do... how bitchy I can be... it cost me Beck. He was right about that… someone can only put up with that for so long."

He replied instantly in a serious tone, "And his disrespect and not talking to you as an equal than a child cost him you."

Jade blinked and gave him a look of surprise.

He bowed his head slightly then continued, "No villains... just flawed people trying to get by in life. You can analyze all the mistakes you both made, but we have to remember that we all make mistakes and sometimes they cost us dearly, but that doesn't mean we give up or try to learn from them and be better people. I know I'm working on that."

Jade cracked a smile, "Live and learn, right?"

Freddie gave a polite nod and whispered, "Right, live and learn."

The weight Freddie felt he had been carrying since the incident at Wok Star felt great falling off of his shoulders and apparently Jade was relieved as well from what uneasiness he observed she was carrying. So much so that she raised an eyebrow and smirked a moment later as she asked, "Was there an apology for saying something to Beck in there somewhere?"

Freddie smirked as he replied, "No." He leaned forward to whisper to her in a conspiratorial manner, "I'm just a little biased and I'll be a little hypocritical for you."

Jade looked down and bit her bottom lip softly trying to stifle a laugh.

Freddie leaned back to meet her eyes once more when she lifted her head. She has such a beautiful smile, crossed his mind and he felt no need to argue with himself over the observation. He spoke in a light tone as he asked, "So? I'll pick you up Monday?"

She smiled and gave a nod, "See you on Monday."

He gave her one last smile then turned to finally head for his car. He stopped with the first step away from her as he heard her call out his name, "Freddie?"

He turned and asked with a hint of surprise, "Yeah?"

She closed the distance and quickly placed a soft kiss on his left cheek. They both closed their eyes from the contact and Jade held her lips there a moment longer than necessary. Right or wrong, he allowed himself the moment to feel the kindness and tenderness in the chaste kiss.

She pulled back to meet his eyes where her content feeling quickly turned one of anxiety meeting his eyes.

He swallowed as his own eyes reflected back the uncertainty as reality of what just happened smacked in him the face.

She felt like a child speaking in such a soft and frightened manner, "Thank you Freddie… for… everything?"

He returned with a grateful smile as he spoke, "Thank you for not walking away."

She nodded her head then a thought occurred to her. She flashed him that smile once more and thumbed towards the door, "Ah… would you like to stay for a cup of coffee? Maybe get in a game of Gears of War? It's not a smoothie, but…"

He tilted his head to the side and smiled as he replied without bothering to give it a conscious thought, "I'd like that."

Her smile got bigger and quickly opened the door to lead him inside.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: Hello dear readers. Sorry this chapter is late, but I guessed right that my week this week would be a busy one for me. For those of you reading 'iWould Have Pounded Him Silly' would notice that I'm behind posting for the week on that story. Hopefully I can get all my stories back on track this weekend. I hope you enjoy this week's installment.**

Chapter 20

West Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Sunday, July 10, 2011

Jade stared up at her ceiling as she was lying in bed. It was almost pitch black in the room, but her eyes had long adjusted to the darkness enough to recognize items and make her way out if she wanted without a light. There were plenty of fascinating things to stare at in her room, because that was one of the points of her various collections of odds and ends, but she kept her eyes on the bland ceiling.

Freddie had left probably an hour ago, but she wasn't that sure of her estimate as she hadn't bothered looking at her clock on the nightstand. She guessed it was around two or three in the morning.

It had been a long day. It was a silly thing to say in her head, but it was truth. She was exhausted, but couldn't sleep as she tossed and turned for awhile (she partially attributed it to the cup of coffee she shared with Freddie, but not literally sharing the cup) until she decided to just stop and look up.

She wished that her mind would go just as blank as the dark ceiling so she could get some sleep, but her mind continued to remain occupied. The actress' mind jumped from one thing to another as she tried to process the day.

She thought about her 'friends' coming home safely which caused her to think on what that actually meant to her.

Cat, the sweet, scattered brain childlike girl that would get on her last nerve with her happiness, but she wouldn't push her away. She was forced to admit to herself that she cared about the happy girl and what happened to her. She was probably her best friend and thought she owed the redhead the courtesy of telling her at some point. She wondered why Cat put up with her so much and debated the reasons: she was just stupid, she was just as lonely, or maybe Cat was just such a good person that she didn't deserve to have as a friend. She could always just ask her.

Her mind drifted to another person: Robbie. He was always one of mild irritation and Rex could just be a pain in the ass, but they put up with her as much as she put of up him/them. She sometimes appreciated his morbid sense of humor. She really did like his song, _Broken Glass_.

She smiled as she thought onto the next person she could consider a friend: André Harris, singer and songsmith extraordinaire. She thought her relationship was one of the better ones among the group. She actually respected him and had real talent. He was nice (in that non-annoying manner), charming, sweet and with a great sense of humor (a little bit like Freddie another part of her mind whispered), but also intelligent and would show concern for her during the times she wouldn't scare him.

As she thought on André, her mind wandered onto Tori. It was a natural connection her brain made as they pair had became instant friends when the brunette entered the school and nearly were inseparable. Freddie might have a point.

Tori Vega… always back and forth between the pair could be exhausting she had to admit and she grimaced as her mind thought on that particular subject. At times she thought that maybe they could be friends: skipping out of cleaning the Black Box, Tori helping her get 'Well Wishes' produced, and payback on 'The Wood' reality show to just name a few.

But of course there was always something that would drag them down to enemies. Tori was always there in her way, either for parts she wanted ever since she was accepted into the school, messing up her own plans and the fact that everyone loved her. Everyone loving her was what scared her the most as she had been afraid of a particular person loving the brunette more than her: Beck. Her fear that the brunette would steal him away from her sabotaged any real chance she would give the teenager. Petty? Probably, but she always did what she had to do to hold on to what was hers regardless of how good or bad her actions could be construed (or honestly assessed).

How would things be different between them now that Beck was no longer a factor? Would her biggest fears be fulfilled with the brunette singer hooking up with Beck or was Freddie correct about the possibility of Tori and André? Did it really matter at this point? Tori couldn't steal what Jade didn't posses and she didn't see any realistic chance of fixing the problems between her and Beck in any reasonable amount of time to get back with him before he moved on or maybe her moving on from Beck…

Beck… she loves him. She would always freely admit those feelings. It still hurt not being with him, but… not as much as it did when they first broke up or during the last week. That realization frightened her just a little bit. Was being able to let go a little mean that it wasn't real in the first place? Or was it okay to feel okay?

She didn't have immediate answers to those questions, so her mind drifted to the other important part of her day: Freddie… just some web-celebrity that came out of nowhere when she needed him the most. What an impression he had made on her in just a week's time. He had been with her every step this week and wouldn't let her wallow in self-pity or sadness.

He had been sweet and kind, intelligent and caring and honorable when she knew other guys would not have been as such, but what she secretly admired about him is he didn't take any of her mess. He wasn't scared of her. What could she say? His new found sense of self-confidence he was forced to find because of Carly and Sam could be sexy.

Associating sexy and Freddie caused her to blink as she continued to stare at the featureless ceiling. She wasn't blind to his physical attractiveness. He was a handsome guy on top of all the other positive traits she associated with the Seattle native that would make any girl fortunate to have him. However, it wasn't something she wanted to think on that much despite the fact of all the things he had done for her over the last week ran through her mind as some silly flashbacks from some comedy aimed at teenagers: afternoon stops for coffee and smoothies, late night video game sessions, their 'not dates' dinner and a movie he didn't have to treat her and as cliché as it may have been, defending her from Steven attempting to start anything.

She rolled over to her side and closed her eyes as she pulled her sheet tighter around her. The last thing she needed was to complicate both their lives by becoming attracted to him, because she wasn't attracted to him. Nope, not one bit to his boyish grin or compassionate nature. She still loved Beck and she knew Freddie still loved Carly and that was all there was to it.

As she tried to fall asleep, her own words she sang to him drifted in her mind:

_Nobody's perfect, I know it's not easy giving up your heart, trust me, I've learned it._

Sikowitz's Classroom  
>Hollywood Arts High School<br>Los Angeles, CA  
>Monday, July 11, 2011<p>

"Auditions are next week," Freddie ideally commented as he was skimming over a quick reading assignment about set design they were given before lunch. He was sitting in one of the colorful chairs with his feet propped up and book in his lap. "I think you should go for the part of Elizabeth."

Jade was sitting beside him in the abandoned classroom they had to themselves and looking over own text and gave him a questioning look before asking, "You want me to go for the sweet and innocent role?"

He gave a slight smile and shrugged a shoulder, "I really have no particular preference for what role you play as long as you get one, but why not?"

Jade frowned and narrowed her look at him displaying her hint of irritation as she replied, "Because it is all innocent and sweet. I don't do those roles."

He returned with an agreeable smile. "Aren't you afraid of being typecast?"

Jade frowned deeper when she realized he had a very good point. The odds against her becoming a professional actress was already stacked against her, _1 in 90,000_, so maybe she shouldn't try to limit the role and thus her chances of making it.

He continued with a playful smile, "You wouldn't think it would be fun to try something different? I know when I did all those odd rolls on iCarly, it was fun."

"I don't do this for fun," she replied in a curt tone.

He leaned forward and cracked a smile as he whispered, "But you do enjoy it?"

She raised a curious eyebrow, "Of course."

He playfully nudged his shoulder against hers. "Then aren't we just playing semantics with the words 'fun' and 'enjoy'?"

Jade smirked as she eyed him and he replied with his boyish grin that was starting to endear with her. It was just another thing to add to the growing list of things she liked about him.

He leaned back in his seat and asked jokingly, "You know, I haven't had the opportunity to see you act yet. I'm kind of curious to see you perform, so I'm eager to see you get any role."

She tilted her head to the side as she gave him a knowing grin. "I filmed some stuff that I can show you during lunch."

He laughed softly, "Cool. I definitely want to see that."

They turned back to their reading and a few minutes later, Jade thought out loud, "At least I don't have Tori to compete against."

Freddie allowed his confusion to appear on his face then sat the book down in his lap to ask, "I don't understand."

"What?"

He shrugged a shoulder, "I don't understand the rivalry between you two… at least on the performance part of it. This is a school, not some Broadway production, so why has it become so intense between you and Tori? Isn't everyone supposed to get a chance to star since they need talent in the first place to go here? Isn't that the point of learning while going here?"

She frowned at him at first, but quickly realized that neither the question nor he was stupid; he just didn't know how things worked at the school. She snorted out and smiled as she realized that it was an obvious question from someone that hadn't been around since the day Tori Vega walked into Hollywood Arts.

She took a quick breath then explained calmly and with far more patients than she normally would have had with someone, "In theory, but you have to compete for as many roles as you can get because we list them on résumés and on college applications, so the more starring roles we have over supporting roles—"

He nodded along and picked up, "The better it looks to the people you're trying to impress."

Jade tilted her head to the side and smiled at Tori's past predicament she thought back on, "Tori found out the hard way when she was trying to audition for a role Sikowitz suggested she try out for and only had one play to list at the time. She… padded her résumé after we thought there wasn't enough to get anyone's attention."

"You told her to lie?"

She chuckled, "Exaggerate."

"Cute," he replied with a soft laugh. Freddie looked down and shook his head. The humor left his voice as he whispered sadly, "That must stink… always have to compete with your friends."

"Tori's not my friend," she snapped out of instinct.

"Then what exactly is she?"

"She's… I don't know anymore," she answered hesitantly then looked down at her book.

He nudged her for her to look up at him. She responded and met his compassionate brown eyes. He whispered in a comforting tone, "Frenemies are not all they are cracked up to be: having one or being one. Friendships are hard enough to maintain without the added problem of wondering whether they are going to stab you in the back."

She wanted to laugh at the irony of him putting into words of what went through her mind that early Sunday morning, but kept her response in check. Another part of her mind was eager to take advantage of a humorous response with something on the other end of the spectrum that she wouldn't necessarily be proud of asking, "You can't fix your own, but you can give me advice on mine?" Her wording may have felt somewhat of a cheap shot, but she felt her point was valid.

The brown haired teenager slightly frowned at his companion. "There's no middle ground between me and Carly and Sam or I wouldn't have had to leave in the first place. I either agree with them to give Sam a chance or they accept that I don't want to date her. Where's the in-between in those positions?"

Jade rolled her eyes in trying to save some face as she saw his point that his situation wasn't applicable to what they were discussing. "Okay, you're right, but… what if they decide not to let it go when you go back?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the idea that he would be gone in a few weeks and back in Seattle pricked at her. There wouldn't be any late night video game sessions, or relaxing lunches or intelligent conversations or… his presence that she had grown accustom to over the last week. The separation from Beck ached enough and she didn't want to add to it when he left no matter how hard she tried to push it out of her mind and lose sleep.

She didn't dwell too much on those thoughts as he replied after taking a deep breath, "I… I don't know. I didn't exactly think that far ahead when I took off. My mind was on running away, not coming back. I'm not sure what's going to happen when I go back."

"Maybe the time apart gave them a new perspective? Let them see it from your point of view?"

Freddie tilted his head to the side as he looked to her with a doubtful expression.

She looked somewhat embarrassed for a moment before replying, "Okay, that was me attempting to be a little optimistic."

He snorted out a laugh, "I appreciate the effort… I don't know what is going to happen, but what I know right now is that I don't want to deal with them anytime soon. Arguing is draining enough dealing with them on their own, but two on one is exhausting. They make a dangerous pair: her sweet, innocent demeanor is very effective in manipulating people, especially emotionally and Sam's 'I will break you' attitude backs it up with violence and quite frankly, I'm still mad at them."

"I understand about the anger, but at least you realize how they work, so they can't pull a fast one on you anymore," she tried to reassure him.

He just nodded along trying to accept her point over his own doubts, "That's true, but that doesn't make it any easier for me."

"Well… who said you had to do it alone?"

"What?"

"Ah…" she started without thinking, but she trusted to just go with whatever was about to leave her mouth, "I could go back with you for a few days. I mean you go back with a few weeks to spare before school starts back for either of us. I can handle Sam… I've dealt with plenty of so called 'tough girls' then you can deal with Carly. Besides, you can return the favor of showing me around your city.

Freddie grinned at the prospect of her staying a few days in Seattle and showing her around. He was already dreading the fact that he would have to leave her, but he wasn't going to voice those feelings, well at least not for the time being.

His mother might not like some unknown girl to stay with them for those few days, but his mother would just have to accept the arrangement. It's not like the pair would sleep in the same bed together or they would do anything together.

Asphalt Café  
>Hollywood Arts High School<br>Los Angeles, CA

The pair was enjoying their quick takeout lunch at the table that Jade would usually sit at with her friends during lunch. Freddie rested his elbow on the tabletop as he watched Jade bring up the video on his laptop.

She found the video still on SplashFace and Freddie grinned as he watched the thriller of a short film. It was pretty enthralling and if this really was based off a short story by Beck then he had to hand it to him regardless of any other feelings he had towards the actor at the moment.

He smirked as he saw the ending where Jade's character was putting the knife in drawer. The film ended with a car driving down the highway, but this time, with proper credit going to those who deserved it instead of crediting almost everything to Dale Squires.

She gave a confident smile as she looked towards him and asked, "So, what did you think?"

He whistled and shook his head. "That was fantastic," he chuckled. "I really felt your performance. The part where you were slapping Cat, it sounded like you really hit her."

She smirked as she replied, "I did hit her."

Freddie raised an eyebrow as he asked with a hint of disbelief, "Why did you really hit her?"

"I felt that was what my character would do," she explained as if it was the obvious conclusion.

"But you really _hit her_," he replied with muted disbelief.

She gave a slight frown at seeing his disapproving expression. She whispered out, "Well… it was for the scene… and she kissed Beck."

Freddie blinked then gave her a disbelieving expression. "So Cat stage kisses Beck and you smack her? You serious thought Cat was a threat to your relationship with him? You thought that was acceptable to hit your friend?"

Jade turned her head to the left and looked towards the table.

Freddie palmed his forehead and let out a loud breath. He dropped his hand and look at her profile. "Look, I'm not trying to lecture you, but when you actually hit a person you consider a friend, you're crossing a line that can't be ignore. You can trust me on that, because I have plenty of experience in that area."

She snapped her head up to meet his eyes. They weren't angry or annoyed as she would see sometimes in Beck's eyes, but one of concern. However, the backhanded comparison given between her and Sam did not sit well with the dark haired teenager. He may not have intended it, but the comparison surprisingly hurt.

It was a comparison that she had no eagerness in maintaining as she replied softly, "You're right."

Freddie was caught off guard at how easy it was for her to agree with him.

She shrugged a shoulder as she asked, "Live and learn?"

Freddie cracked a smile. "Live and learn."

They each held a stare at the other for a few more moments before Freddie cleared his throat to ask, "Are there any other film with you?"

"Actually there is one—"

"Are you a homicidal maniac in that one too?" he asked and softly nudged her shoulder with his own shoulder.

She quickly licked her bottom lip then replied coyly, "It all depends on your definition of maniac and homicidal."

Freddie shook his head and smiled.

She softly laughed at his reaction then continued, "Anyway, I had to re-audition to stay here after we got a new principal, so I made my own short film."

"You made your own film?"

She grinned confidently as she answered, "Yes, I wrote it, I directed in it and I starred in it."

Freddie blinked and was for a lost of words for a few moments. When he finally got his mouth to work, he asked, "You wrote, directed and starred in your own short film?"

"Yep," she replied with a confident grin.

"That is beyond impressive."

She rested her chin in her hand for a moment as she looked towards him and asked, "Don't you think you should see it first?"

"Fine, if you want to go through that trouble," he replied with a laugh.

"Hey, I thought you wanted to see me act?"

"I said I was curious to see you, not that I didn't think you were good in the first place."

She snorted out a bit of laughter then reached into her bag to pull out a flash drive. Once she retrieved it, she plugged the flash drive into his laptop and quickly brought up the film.

The brown eye teenager gave an even expression as he watched the film. He barely registered in the background that Jade was singing along with her filmed self of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'.

He blinked when she got into a shouting match with the child about him hating her, but she replying that she loved him. A few moments later the film ended and the credits started rolling.

She asked him with a hopeful smile, "So, what did you think?"

Freddie blinked as he continued to stare at the laptop monitor even if the credits had reached its conclusion and muttered out, "What?"

She let a hopeful smile form on her face as she asked, "What did you think of my short film?"

He finally looked away from the screen to her anxious eyes. He cleared his throat, but his throat felt a little constricted, "I ah… I'm not sure what was really going on… I got distracted."

She frowned somewhat as that wasn't even a remote possibility she considered as a reaction by him. "Distracted? By what?"

Freddie partially swallowed down his embarrassment, but still replied bashfully, "Ah, I was distracted by your costume."

"What was wrong with my costume?" she asked with a hint hurt in her voice.

He shook his head and garbled out, "Nothing."

"Then what?" she asked a little impatient and folded her arms.

He sighed in defeat as he felt a prickly sensation go up his neck and reach his cheeks as he assumed he was starting to blush, "You looked really sexy, I guess you would call it scary sexy in a very good way and I was paying attention to you more than the film. You were really hot in that outfit, okay?"

Jade shut her mouth quickly for a moment as she stared at him. She found her voice seconds later to reply, "Oh… oh?"

Freddie looked down and shook his head slightly as he replied, "Sorry… I told you I try to be a gentleman, but I fail sometimes and this is one of those times." It wasn't just the outfit, but how she gave that other worldly expression that drew him in to mesmerize him.

She thought on what he said for a few moments then a thought entered her mind that she expressed in a playful manner, "You're apologizing for thinking I'm sexy?"

He cleared his throat desperately trying to speak in a normal conversational voice then replied cautiously, "When the point was to watch your film and not… ogle you, which I shouldn't do in the first place, then yeah, I am."

She leaned forward and rested her elbow on the table top. A wicked smile played on her face as their faces were just inches apart. She whispered in an almost purring voice, "What if I think it's alright for you to think I'm 'scary sexy'… in a good way?"

"Ah…"

The way she was looking at him and her proximity made him realize all the things he had desperately tried to avoid thinking about when finally got back to his hotel sometime after one in the morning and the rest of that Sunday:

He wanted to kiss her.

He didn't understand where that idea originated… that wasn't entirely true… that wasn't true at all.

There were plenty of reasons to kiss her.

She was very pretty. A shallow reason to be sure, but only the first and far down on list. There was no question about that in his mind about that fact. She had the faintest of freckles on the bridge of her nose and just under her eye and across her cheeks that her makeup didn't cover. She would probably get mad at him, but when she slightly opened her mouth, it looked as if she had cute bunny teeth. It was a stark contrast to her outward persona she conveyed, but he found it adorable.

Her bluish and green eyes were so different from Carly's, yet just as inviting. There was something hidden behind them and he wanted to find out that mystery. He may have started to unravel it over the last week unintentionally, but now… she had very pretty eyes was one of the few things his mind could process.

Under her harsh exterior at times, she was very kind and sweet. She would listen to what he had to say and wouldn't disregard what he had to say out of hand.

She hadn't walked away… she didn't let him walk away.

There was still one very good reason not to kiss her: Beck.

Freddie didn't feel he had any particular loyalty owed to her ex-boyfriend and the former-Tech Producer wasn't happy with Beck.. It wasn't about the actor or his feelings that concerned Freddie, but about Jade. What would make her happy? 'What would make Carly happy?' used to be the question and the change in subject wasn't lost on him.

However, he was forced to balance what would make Jade happy versus what was best for her with the obvious question staring him in the face of 'What in the world was it his place to even try to figure out that balance?'

Would getting back with Beck really make her happy?

Was it actually be for the best if they got back together?

Could they work out their problems now that they were out in the open and fix them?

He may have overreacted with Beck's 'discipline' of Jade, but it was Beck's action that caused him to seriously question whether the pair should get back together at all. He didn't like the idea that the actor would ignore Jade's insecurities about other girls flirting with him.

It was probably wrong for him to judge the actor so harshly with just Jade's side of the story and observing one bad interaction between the former couple, but maybe his judgment was becoming clouded when it involved Jade.

Of course his growing attraction to the dark haired beauty didn't play a role in his thinking about the situation or that was what he would prefer to tell himself. She was right: he couldn't be the selfish one (even if that wasn't exactly what she meant, or was it?) even if a piece of him desperately wanted to be selfish. He still had his self-respect and maybe gained a little pride and he wasn't going to give up either. _What if this particular mean girl was actually worth it?_

"Earth to Freddie?" Jade whispered out in concern.

"Oh," he replied as he blinked and focused on her concerned face.

She gave him worried smile as she asked, "You kind of zoned out on me for a second."

He snorted out a soft laugh, "It felt longer."

"Any reason for that? The zoning out I mean?"

He laughed nervously, "Sorry… you just caught me off guard with the question."

"Oh? Okay… well, never mind—"

He reached out without thinking and placed his hand on top of hers resting on the table beside the laptop. He curled his fingers softly between her thumb and pointer finger.

She looked down at his hand then back up at him with a hint of apprehension.

He took a breath then whispered with his face still close to hers that she could feel his breath tickle her upper lip and nose, "You're very beautiful and incredibly sexy Jade… so I think you could have a little patients with me if I get tongue tied in speaking with you."

Her breath caught as she stared back into his brown eyes. He was charming, but not trying to charm her as he had turned around her 'unintentional' flirting on her. A swarm of thoughts entered her mind, but one thought cut through the rest: She wanted to kiss him.

Before she could think on that thought further, he noticed the time in the right bottom corner of his laptop screen and said with a cracking voice, "I guess we better get back inside for the rest of the afternoon? Lunch is about over."

"I guess so," she whispered back just as awkwardly. "Time flew watching the videos."

"Yeah," he replied then pulled back and out of his seat. He offered his hand and she graciously accepted it to help her off the rounded bench seat.

He quickly gathered up his laptop, book and book bag while she gathered up their trash and took it to a neighboring trashcan.

They shared one last glance with one another then headed back towards the school entrance.

One thought ran through each of their minds as they entered the school: _I am not attracted to him/her._


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. I hope everyone has had a great week. I'm splitting the update into two chapters for story purposes.**

**Urias: The funny thing is the pacing is the most difficult part of this story, so I'm glad it is working out.**

**animeteen2010: I love shining a light at ramifications of characters' personalities and how they would play out without a reset button at an end of an episode. Also, relationship shallowness is something that I believe they realize is one of the problems they are facing. I think Freddie's quote that I use for the summary of this story sums it up.**

**Julefor: Denial is not just a river in Egypt for both of them. I think the reason why Freddie is clinging to his nobility so much is that it is the only thing he has left in his life at the moment. Everything else in his life that he has counted on has failed him. You hold on tighter to what you know when everything else falls apart, but we know it won't last forever.**

**Eletrickkid: Ah, you know they've done far more than just kiss according to the first chapter :P**

* * *

><p>Chapter 21<p>

Jet Brew Coffee Shop  
>7055 Sunset Blvd.<br>Los Angeles, CA  
>Monday, July 11, 2011<p>

Jade and Freddie were seated at what had become their usual table in the afternoons, but in an odd silence. Jade rested her cheek in one hand as she looked down to her coffee and swirled the spoon in the warm liquid while Freddie sipped on the straw of his smoothie staring at the table. They would hold eye contact for a brief moment then break off to look at anything else but each other.

Freddie cleared his throat then commented, "That was pretty interesting lecture about lighting."

He let out a breath as he regretted the statement as soon as it left his mouth. He felt ridiculous saying such a thing as if he was talking about different types of sandpaper or some new computer component which no one would actually care about unless that person shared the relevant interest. Since lunch, he had found it hard holding a conversation with her that wasn't about the workshop or anything remotely related to it, because for some unknown reason, nothing came to mind for him to casually discuss. He felt just as tongue tied as when he met Shelby Marx or any other pretty girl was around him and he was trying to impress.

She apparently didn't notice or decided to humor him by replying softly while still avoiding eye contact with him and stirring her coffee, "It was… I've done lighting before for Sikowitz during a play he put on at school."

He blinked in surprise and allowed him to disregard his embarrassment by focusing on what she had to contribute to the conversation with his question, "Oh?"

"Yeah, it was surprisingly interesting, but Cat shocked me once by accidentally turning on a switch when I was doing some wiring just before the play was going to start."

Freddie finally looked up to meet her eyes and sucked in a breath through his teeth wincing as he imagined getting shocked. He thought back when Sam had shocked him with the electric pen to the neck, passing out and Carly once again brushing off Sam's behavior. He vaguely remembered hearing her say when he was on the floor: 'I'll check his pulse.' He pushed the memory away and asked, "Were you alright?"

"Yeah, it was just…" she raised an eyebrow as she finished, "shocking."

The lame joke broke the tension he felt for a moment and allowed him to chuckle behind the back of his hand. He calmed down a few moments later then responded, "Interesting choice of words."

Jade finally looked up with dropping her hand from her face and gave him a coy smile, "Yeah, but accurate."

He smirked as he asked, "Would you ever do lighting with her again?"

She gave a half smile and shook her head, "I'd have to think about it. She can be so irritating and just out there, but…" She looked back at her coffee and finished softly, "She means well."

He nodded as he replied, "It's good you look out for her like that…"

She looked up and gave him a perplexed expression.

He returned with a coy smile of his own, "Reasonable assumption. She seems so childlike and she's your friend, even more so than I remember her from the party. It's is kind of weird actually."

She chuckled, "It looks like you have me all figured out?"

He quickly looked down and took another sip of his smoothie. After finishing the sip, he replied softly, "That's not my place…"

The sadness she swore she heard in his voice caused her to put on an even expression as she turned her attention back to her coffee she was lazily still stirring. She realized that she hadn't taken one sip of it.

West Residence

It was about half an hour later when Freddie pulled them up in the Wests' driveway. Once he parked the car, he turned slightly in his seat to look at the dark headed teenager. He cleared his throat and felt his neck and shoulder muscles tense up as he gave her a crooked smile. He was barely able to get out, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She gave him a slight frown as he asked, "You're not coming in?"

He shook his head. He felt his throat constricting as he answered, "I… I'm kind of tired and thought I'd go ahead and head back to my hotel room for a nap. I didn't sleep too well when I got back Sunday morning and I don't think a really rested up the rest of the day. I'd like to catch up on some sleep."

She gave a hesitant nod and replied quietly, "Oh, okay… see you tomorrow."

He gave a nervous smile as he replied, "Right, tomorrow."

She exited the car then walked around the front of the car to head for her front door. She looked over her shoulder to spare him one last glance.

He gave a brief wave then looked over his shoulder in order to see backing out of the driveway.

Jade stopped and stood there for a few moments to watch him drive away wondering what had happened between them.

Sikowitz's Drama Classroom  
>Hollywood Arts High School<br>Los Angeles, CA  
>Thursday, July 14, 2011<p>

Sikowitz was wrapping up his lecture before lunch that Jade knew she had heard several times before in his class, but knew that it was new material for most of the other participants that either hadn't taken one of his classes or didn't attend the school at all. Sinjin even looked like he was bored along with Ava that had been hanging around him since the beginning of the workshop. She wasn't surprised by their reactions since they had all in Sikowitz's class last semester (Jade was actually shocked that the short brunette could even speak as she always remained quiet sitting in one of the back rows in Sikowitz's class). She noticed that the brown eye teenager sitting beside her was taking the occasional note as apparently some of what Sikowitz was saying was new to the Tech-Producer.

Jade tuned out the eccentric teacher as she thought back on Monday afternoon and the last two days. Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday had gone by without much of note as the workshop had continued to run smoothly throughout the afternoon and those two days. The only thing that was 'off' was that Jade felt the same tension throughout the last two days as she felt between her and Freddie at the coffee shop. They were fine as long as they were focused on the topic of the day or working on the preparing for the short film, but any other time it felt like something was in their way in having a conversation.

The raven haired teenager continued to feel it even this morning when he picked her up. It wasn't that he was distant, but seemed nervous or apprehensive. If she had to put it in words, she describe it as if he was afraid of saying the wrong thing or how she saw many times the cliché behavior of unpopular guys trying to figure out how to behave around far more popular girls. She couldn't understand the sudden change in his behavior or why he would feel that way, especially around her. She would have confronted him about his apparent change, but she was feeling the same way since Sunday morning. She realized that her own acting that everything was fine started slipping right after Monday's lunch when she inadvertently flirted with him and started playing right along with him in his apprehension.

"_Was that his way of rejecting me?"_ was a thought that crossed her mind.

She shook her head dispelling the idea since she didn't put herself out there to be rejected and she wouldn't attempt to get that type of attention from him. Her focus is on dealing with the fact that she wasn't with Beck while Freddie is trying to get away from relationship drama, not rush into more of it, friendship or romantically. Besides, she wasn't attracted to the kind, caring and handsome teenager that had done his best to keep her happy. Nope, not one bit.

Sikowitz clapped his hands as he finished and shouted, "Done, go eat lunch!" He immediately turned and grabbed his own bag then dashed out the door beside the stage.

The group of students quickly grabbed their own belongings and headed for the back and front exits. Jade and Freddie gathered their belongings and headed for the exit beside the stage. The pair exited the classroom, but stopped just feet out the door as they saw Tori and Cat apparently waiting for them.

Jade blinked and her mouth hung open slightly as she processed their unexpected appearance. She was finally able to ask as the two girls reached them, "Ah… what are you doing here?"

Cat giggled as she clapped her hands, "We wanted to see how things were going. We wanted to see the magic."

She glanced at the equally surprised Freddie then turned her attention to the hyper teenager to reply cautiously, "Okay… they're going fine, but you didn't have to drop by to find that out."

Tori snorted out a laugh, "Cat missed seeing you."

Freddie shook his head for a moment then looked to Jade to ask, "Isn't that sweet of her?"

Jade gave him a slight frown and he returned with a laugh. She replied in a chilly voice, "It would have been sweeter if they had brought us lunch."

Tori frowned while Cat looked confused.

Freddie raised a hand as he hung on to his book bag strap with the other hand and offered, "I'll get us lunch. What do you want?"

"Chinese," Jade answered with a smile. "We haven't had that in a few days."

"Wok Star it is," he replied with a smile and fortunately without the nervousness lacing his voice.

Tori looked back and forth between the pair seeing the same easiness she saw them share when they were at Wok Star Saturday and the rest of that night. She didn't give it too much thought however as she offered with a raised hand, "I'll go with you. We haven't eaten either."

Jade passed her a glance, but kept quiet as Freddie gave an accepting nod to the brunette and led her through the hallway.

Cat cheerfully pulled Jade out her watching of the retreating pair with a question, "So, how's the workshop?"

In Route to Wok Star

Tori glanced out of the passenger window, "So, how does it feel surviving almost two weeks with Jade?"

Freddie's brow furled as he spared a quick glance to the brunette. "Surviving? What do you mean?"

Tori blinked as she looked to the confused teenager. She gave a crooked smile as she answered, "Ah… I mean, Jade isn't the easiest person to get along with, but you seem to be doing alright even if she can be… ah… mean?"

Freddie smiled then replied, "You just have to get to know her."

Tori propped her elbow against the passenger door and held her head up as she directed her gaze at him. She replied with a soft laugh, "I do know her and how hard it is to remain even civil."

The brown eye teenager slightly shook his head, "Yeah, but your relationship with her is unique."

"Unique?"

Freddie slowed the vehicle as he approached a red light. Once he stopped, he looked over to her and replied, "Yours is based on a rivalry and ours isn't."

She frowned and narrowed her eyes on him as she replied, "I've been trying to be Jade's friend since I got here, but she's always—"

Freddie raised his right hand, "I know and I know the reasons behind it from her side. I'm not saying it's right and I really don't think it has to be that way, but that's between you two. You can't judge my friendship with Jade based on your experiences with her."

"So you two really are friends?"

Freddie tilted his head to the side and replied, "Yeah, we are. You sound surprised."

She nodded with a grin and raised eyebrow as she replied, "A little because of my own experiences with her and her own… abrasive nature."

Freddie turned his attention back to the road as the signal light turned back to green. As he started back on his way, he replied, "Abrasive? Yeah, but she's very kind and sweet underneath it. You just have to take time and see it."

Tori gave him a disbelieving look with her raised brow and embarrassed smile. She hesitantly asked, "Are we talking about the same Jade? She's mean and vicious with deep psychological problems."

Freddie chuckled for a few moments then took a calming breath before answering, "Yes, we are talking about the same Jade, but I think you might be exaggerating with the 'deep psychological problems' part."

"But you'll agree with me on the mean and vicious?"

Freddie smirked as he made the turn into the parking lot of Wok Star and replied, "Yeah, but it's just something she has to work on."

Tori laughed, "I seriously doubt she's going to try to change—"

"She realizes she lost Beck partially due to her behavior and how it affects her friendships. It won't be overnight, but she just might surprise you."

Tori blinked and her mouth hung open from the answer as Freddie parked the car. He looked to her with a boyish grin.

She nodded with a hint of surprise and replied, "Alright then."

A few minutes later they were back in his rental car with food for the quartet and extra sweet and sour sauce for Cat. Once Tori was settled in her seat with the food at her feet and Freddie starting the car, she asked, "What made you decide to spend the summer down here?"

Freddie let out a laugh to cover his anxiety on how to answer the question. "I just wanted a change in scenery… get out of Seattle for a while."

Tori looked to him with an expression that she wasn't convinced of his answer.

Freddie looked over his shoulder to see if it was clear behind him to back up. Once he safely backed out of the spot and turned facing the exit onto the passing traffic and waiting to pull out into it, he let out a breath, "Okay, it just wasn't that… I'm having some problems with Carly and Sam and I needed to get away from it all."

Tori blinked at the news. She hesitantly asked, "Oh, is it that bad?"

"I didn't say it was bad, just—"

She gave a slight smirk and a nod of her head as she replied, "When you leave the state to 'get away from it all' then I'm pretty sure it's bad."

He sighed in defeat as he really couldn't argue with her and doubted she'd believe any cover story. "Okay, yeah, it's pretty bad, but I was planning to go to this electronics camp for the summer anyway. It fell through for some reason, but when everything kind of messed up with Carly and Sam, I really had to get out of there. I saw a workshop opening while visiting theSlap and took it."

Her smirk fell away and was replaced with a sympathetic expression. She whispered out in a comforting tone, "I'm sorry. Does Jade know?"

Freddie eased into traffic and headed down the road back to Hollywood Arts. He replied casually, "Of course she knows."

Tori shut her mouth tight for a moment as she thought about her next question then finally just asked, "Does she know the details?"

"Yes and I really don't want to go into it right now," he replied in a friendly, but clearly firm voice.

"I understand… I guess you two kind of… bonded?"

Freddie let a small smile appear on his face as he answered, "I guess you could say that."

Tori turned her attention to the front of the car and shrugged a shoulder as she softly laughed, "I guess loneliness can do strange things to people."

His smile left his face and he put up a guarded expression as he kept his eyes on the road. He softly whispered in a chilly tone, "We're not charity cases for one another."

Tori looked back to Freddie and her mouth started opening and closing like a fish out of water. She found her voice a few moments later and replied, "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply it. It's just… it's kind of amazing how friendships can form out of circumstances. That's how all my friendships at Hollywood Arts started: Trina had an allergic reaction to something to help her throat and I had to sing in her place. The principal at the time was impressed and offered me a spot."

He maintained his attention on the road as they had already reached the school's parking lot. He whispered out as he thought back to that midnight at Ridgeway, "Yeah, one unexpected thing can send your life in an entirely different direction than you expect."


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: For any reader that has read or currently reading my Creddie stories, you are aware that I cast actors for some of the named, but unseen characters as if they could film the stories, and this story is no exception. So, for this chapter, Special Guest Appearance by Jennifer Connelly as Ruby Lyn West.**

Chapter 22

Asphalt Café  
>Hollywood Arts<br>Los Angeles, CA

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The pair of girls was waiting outside at their usual table out on the Café. Cat was looking all around to see the few students that were eating their lunches at the outdoor seating while Jade was glancing over some notes she had taken earlier in the day. Cat waved at noticing Sinjin, Ava and a few people she didn't recognize sitting at the table behind them and under the second level of the café for the shade it provided.

The redhead finally turned her attention back to her dark headed companion. She commented with a smile as she studied her contemplating friend, "Freddie's as nice as I remembered."

Jade continued to focus on her notes as she replied instinctively, "Yes, he's very nice."

The shorter teenager asked in a hopeful voice, "Is he seeing anyone? Because he's very sweet and cute and smart…"

Jade looked up and frowned at the redhead.

Cat's smile turned into a grin as she replied, "I guess that means he's unavailable?"

The pale teenager replied in a curt tone, "That's one way to put it."

Cat giggled as she looked away and covered her mouth.

The blue and green streaked hair teenager's frown deepened as she eyed her friend. Her voice was cold with a hint of irritation, "Cat, what are you thinking?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, I think it's just nice that you found someone. I don't like you so sad since you and Beck broke up."

Jade clenched her jaw tight and stared directly into Cat's eyes. "I am not dating Freddie."

"Uh," Cat replied sadly with a disheartening frown.

Jade blinked at seeing the genuine sadness from the childlike teen. Her mind went blank on how to respond, but she didn't get the chance to respond as Freddie and Tori approached with their lunches.

Freddie walked around behind Jade to stand to her left as she put away her notes and he sat the plastic bag with their respective lunches. He pulled out several boxes of food out of the bag and in front of the girls: "Your favorite," he spoke to Jade as he sat her meal in front of her. She allowed a grin to appear on her face as she opened up her box and really did remember her favorite. "Tori's order," he spoke as he placed a box in front of the brunette who decided to take her usual seat on the left side of the table. He reached in one last time and pulled out a takeout box and a small round container and commented, "Cat's order with extra sweet and sour sauce."

Cat giggled for a moment then replied, "Thank you Freddie."

"You're welcome," he replied as he had a seat between Jade and the redhead.

Jade immediately dug into her meal as she was hunger and wanted to distract herself from Freddie's proximity of right beside her as was the case on Monday.

The rest soon followed her example and dug into their food. As Freddie was able to eat his noodles with his chopsticks without any problems or protests from his healed hand, he asked, "So what have you two lovely ladies been doing this week?"

Cat was the first to respond excitedly, "I've been going to all the different parks and to the movies and playing baby golf with Robbie. It's been fun."

Freddie raised an eyebrow as he looked to Jade and mouthed, "Baby golf?"

"Miniature golf," she whispered.

He nodded then looked to Tori. She picked up, "Well, the record label that's interested in André wants him to start putting together some more music and I've been helping him out with some of the writing and a little bit with some vocals."

"André has a record deal?" Freddie asked surprised.

"Yep, he got one after singing a song he wrote, 'Song to You', for one of the executives. He rewrote it from another song after they saw him perform it for a birthday party for the son of one of Sikowitz's old friends from college. It was originally 'Our Favorite Foods' and we all dressed up as different foods to perform the song at the birthday party. They thought his performance was ridiculous and they wanted to pull the offer."

Cat commented with a giggle, "We were called 'The Diddly Bops'… Jade couldn't get her boobs in the hamburger."

Jade frowned and stared harshly at Cat.

Freddie brought a hand up to his mouth to cover his embarrassment and sudden feelings of uneasiness having his mind instinctively start thinking about Jade's breasts.

Tori laughed and rolled her eyes, "Anyway, André got all depressed over it and I finally convinced him to change the song if he didn't like it. He rewrote it that afternoon and I got the record exec to watch us perform it together here at the Café the next day."

Freddie pulled his composer together and thought about anything other than Jade's breast as he asked, "Then he got his record deal?"

"Yep," Tori replied with a nod then went back to eating.

"Glad it worked out," he casually commented. Freddie picked up explaining all the technical aspects and ins and outs of making movies that the pair had learned over the last two weeks including today's lesson that the rest of the were already familiar from Sikowitz's class. He noticed that Jade was remaining oddly quiet as he relayed what they had done.

After a few more minutes of eating and idle chatting, Freddie commented, "We appreciate the extra company."

Jade stuffed her mouth with more food to prevent from saying anything as she didn't necessarily agree with the sentiment. A corner of her mind was offended that she had to share him during the one part of the day at Hollywood Arts where they didn't have to deal with any of the other students and it was just the two of them. The rest of her mind remained silent on the issue.

"Actually, there's another reason why we're here," Tori guiltily admitted.

Freddie asked curiously, "Oh?"

Jade on the other hand resisted rolling her eyes as she thought that Tori was about to drag them into one of her schemes? Projects? Snafus?

Tori smiled as she continued, "We're all going to take Beck's RV to Venice Beach Saturday and we wanted to let you know that you're invited."

"The beach? Oh, I haven't thought about that," he admitted cheerfully to cover the fact that he was trying to push the word 'Beck' out of his mind as it brought an uneasy feeling to the surface.

Tori asked with evident surprise in her voice, "You haven't gone to the beach yet?"

Jade paused as she realized that was one of the places they hadn't gone yet while Freddie looked to her and voiced, "Ah…"

The dark haired teenager dispelled her hesitation and smiled coming to his rescue. "I guess we got so busy with the workshop and trying to save your butt it slipped our minds," she replied with a hint of sarcasm at the end. An insult thrown towards Tori gave her a momentary feeling of relief of anxiety with Freddie and uncertainty from Cat's reaction to the news that she wasn't with Freddie.

The brunette frowned at her and crossed her arms.

Jade glanced towards Freddie where he gave her a half smile and a playful roll of his eyes. There was no condemnation in his eyes or even the expected look of disappointment from her jibe at Tori. She guessed that he just trusted her to work out her issues and problems with her rival.

Freddie turned his attention back Tori and replied, "It sounds like a great idea go to the beach. We'll have a blast." He looked to Jade, but avoided her eyes as he asked, "If that's okay? Are you up for it?"

Jade nodded along and replied cautiously, "Sure."

Tori smiled as she asked for confirmation, "So Venice Beach on Saturday?"

Freddie chuckled, "Sounds like a plan, just let us know the time." He looked to Jade. "I'll pick you up and you'll give me directions?" Once his eyes met her eyes, his voice got nervous again as he continued, "Of course, if you want to ride with the—"

"NO!" she snapped in a desperate tone.

Freddie blinked while Tori and Cat looked to one another in mutual confusion.

Jade passed a quick glance to all of them. She mumbled, "I mean… that's fine. I do not want to get trapped in that RV again."

The brown eye teenager frowned and asked curiously, "Trapped in an RV?"

Cat held a hand up to cover her mouth as she giggled while Tori sighed and Jade rolled her eyes.

"What?" his frown turned into a smile as he became more curious about what happened.

Jade blew out a breath as she dreaded telling the story, but begin anyway, "Well it started when we wanted to escape a heat wave that was…"

West Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Friday, July 15, 2011

Jade groaned to express her annoyance as she had her favorite pair of scissors in her hand and was cutting up a large cardboard box as she sat cross-legged on the floor in her room. She didn't know how she was going to get through tomorrow with Freddie with the way they had been acting towards one another since Monday and without the workshop to give them something to talk about to stop the awkward silence getting between them. She wasn't eager to spend the day with the rest of her friends both as her patients were razor thin and on top of it she didn't want to deal with having to see Beck. She was just tired of hurting and being angry as she watched something that brought her a little piece start to slip away. She growled and started cutting faster.

Ruby West held back a smirk as she looked around the edge of the door frame to look in her daughter's room and watch the teenager carry on with her cutting. She was surprised that her daughter had come home by six that afternoon instead of being out with the teenager from Seattle for a third or forth day.

Ruby let out a laugh as she commented, "At least you are cutting up that instead of anything valuable."

Jade tilted her head to the side and frowned deeply for a moment as she looked to her mother. Her mother had gotten home about an hour ago from work and changed into some casual clothes of blue jeans and long sleeve grey shirt with blue T-shirt over it as opposed to her normal her high class business attire she wore at work.

After the look she gave her mother, she returned her attention to the cardboard box. The irritation she felt for being interrupted was directed at the box with more aggressive cuts.

Ruby entered the gothic decorated room then took a seat on Jade's bed and crossed her legs to rest her hands on her right knee. "So what's wrong? You haven't cut up anything since you broke up with Beck. What's wrong?"

Jade shrugged a shoulder as she started cutting on another side of the box. "Nothing's wrong."

The forty something year old mother nodded and let out a breath. Her daughter was just as stubborn as she was at that age. She didn't know how Steven or Taylor had put up with her back in high school. She calmly replied, "Beck and the rest of your friends are home safe, but you're cutting up a box anyway. I doubt it has anything to do with them since you didn't cut up anything while waiting for them to come back and I don't think the workshop is the problem, so that leaves only one thing… does this have anything to do with Freddie?"

The pale teenager snapped her head up with wide eyes to look at her smiling mother.

Ruby's smile turned into a grin. "You think I haven't noticed? You've spent everyday with him in some manner except for last Sunday and that boy has been over here how many times over the last two week? How late has he stayed before finally leaving? What time did he finally go home Saturday night or was it that Sunday morning?"

Ruby heard the challenge in her daughter's stern voice, but also the hint of apprehension and fear, "You have a problem with him being over?"

The raven haired beauty shook her head, "No, I'm just pointing it out, because you've been moody for the last several days. So what's going on between you two?"

"Nothing's going on," she snapped as she glared at her mother.

Ruby wasn't offended in the least by what could be considered a disrespectful look since she knew where Jade had inherited. She realized over the last several years that when Jade had used the look that it was as humorous as she was told it looked on her from those that really knew her. She smiled and calmly replied, "You call spending that much time with him nothing? You have to see him at the workshop, but you don't have to spend afternoons and sometimes evenings with him. Other than Cat and use to be with Beck, I don't know of anyone that you like spending that much time with."

Jade shook her head and looked at her mother with an irritated look on her face. "What? We're just friends."

Ruby blinked and closed her mouth as she looked to her daughter. She took the moment to process her daughter's statement and realize that she may have stumbled onto more than just a potential disagreement between friends. One of her best friends in high school was a guy and she had to casually remind people that she and Steven were just friends (heck, sometimes between her and Taylor). She didn't care what other's thought or if they believed her, but Jade's statement, 'we're just friends' was too quick, too defensive, too desperate in trying to get her to believe her daughter's statement. She thought on some of her brief observation between Freddie and her daughter. One particular incident came to mind: he brought Jade home Saturday after being out all day with your friends. It wasn't André or the Vega girl and definitely not Beck, it was Freddie.

She decided that she wasn't going to directly push her daughter on the issue, because she hated when people tried to do the same to her when she was that age. She decided for a less direct approach Steven use to use on her in the hopes that Jade would voluntarily talk on her own terms. She calmly asked, "So he's your friend? You've known him for about two week and you're already willing to call him your friend?"

Jade snorted out dismissively, "Is it that surprising?"

Ruby held back a chuckle as she replied, "This is me you're talking to, so yes, it is since you make it a point of saying you don't have any real friends you feel you can count on."

It was Jade's turn to blink.

She attempted to give her a reassuring smile as she continued, "Sweetie, I see what you post about yourself on the school's site. It does worry me at times."

Jade frowned and shook her head as she sat her scissors down in her lap. "So you think something's going on between me and Freddie?"

"I don't know. I thought you were trying to make a friend and something had happened since you're cutting up a cardboard box and you only do that when something is bothering you."

Jade turned her attention to the partially cut up box lying in front of her. She thought back to the trashcan she had cut up when the school wouldn't let her put on 'Well Wishes'. Her mother may not have realized exactly what she was getting at in pointing out the obvious of cutting up the box, but Jade certainly realized the problem: the anxiety of worrying over this new, inexplicable apprehension between her and Freddie was finally getting to her and she was dealing with it in her predictable manner.

"Jadelyn?"

The pale singer was pulled out of her thoughts to look up at her mother.

She looked to her daughter with reserved expression and whispered, "It's alright to move on."

Jade set her jaw tight for a moment and stared back at her mother's blue eyes. She was going to put a stop to her mother's line of thought, so in a calm and deliberate voice she replied, "I don't like Freddie that way."

The right corner of Ruby's mouth lifted up slightly upon hearing her daughter's answer. It was her confirmation in her suspicions. She got up from the edge of the bed to kneel down in front of her daughter. She leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She leaned back and smiled at the apprehensive looking actress then replied, "It's alright if you do. As much as I like Beck and thought he was good for you… moving on does have its benefits… I'm speaking from personal experience. It's something you should think about."

She stood up then headed for the door. As she was crossing the threshold of the doorway, Jade called out, "What was yours?"

The pale woman turned and looked to her daughter with an expression of confusion.

Jade clarified her initial question, "What was your benefit? I doubt it was dad and you haven't exactly moved on after the divorce."

The older woman let out a breath then gave her daughter a smirk, "My benefit was that I got you… but children shouldn't be one of your benefits right now. Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes, so you might want to find a good stopping place in your destruction." She turned and finished exiting the bedroom.

Jade frowned as she was once again reminded why she could hate her mother: she was just like her.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this installment. For those that are wondering who in the world is the character Ava, she is just an unnamed regular background player with no speaking lines that I've seen on the show on a near regular basis that I'm using to keep Sinjin busy. You can see her as the short light brown hair girl in 'Tori Gets Stuck' right behind Tori at the stairs when she first gets the phone call that Jade is trying to trick her with Sinjin. Gibby also tries to talk to her in iParty with Victorious, but she doesn't get to say anything before he goes looking for his mole. It's funny that she's somehow in Seattle in iPity the Nevel at the Groovy Smoothie at the end of that episode and one of the girls that swarms Freddie and Carly in the extended version of iSaved Your Life. I took the name from a list of character on the white board in Sikowitz's class from Terror on Cupcake Street and used it for her name.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I'm sorry for the delay in the next update to this story, but real life got in the way again and I actually had this chapter nearly finished the previous Friday then realized I hated it. I mean I really hated it, so I scrapped most of it and I nearly rewrote it from stretch over the last week. I am far happier with it. I hope you like it and you're more than welcome to let me know what you think.**

Chapter 23

West Residence  
>Saturday, July 16, 2011<p>

Freddie blew out a breath as he pulled his car into the Wests' driveway. He tried to force out the nervousness along with the breath as he was hoping that the being with the rest of the Hollywood Arts students would actually remove some of the tension that had formed between Jade and him or at least be distracting enough so they could get back to speaking normally with one another.

He realized after contemplating that possibility, he had just sat in his car for the last few minutes for no apparent reason for anyone passing a glance in his direction. He shook his head brushing away the possible embarrassment and quickly got out of the vehicle. He wore a light unbutton shirt blowing in the wind over his white athletic shirt and a pair of khaki shorts as he walked to the front porch as casually as possible trying to hide his anxiety. He let out another nervous breath as he reached the door then gave a quiet knock with the back of his knuckles.

At first Freddie didn't think he knocked loud enough, however, a few moments later the door opened and he took in a quick breath as he saw Jade on the other side of the threshold. She wore a black spaghetti strap top with an apparent seam cut down the center from the hem of the shirt to just under her breasts and underneath the shirt a visible black bikini top. She was wearing a long dull dark blue skirt that reached her ankles and sandals on her feet. On top of her head sat a large brim black hat.

"Hi," he was able to choke out as he finished his once over glance of her then met her eyes.

She smiled bashfully and nodded as she replied, "Hi."

They just looked at each other for a few moments as neither apparently knew what to say. Jade pulled her bag tighter on her right shoulder as he held his stare upon her. She looked down at herself and was apparently self-conscious about her appearance as she quickly replied, "I burnt last time instead of tanned."

He blinked as his gaze broke then spitted out with surprise, "What?"

She cleared her throat and continued to look down unable to meet his eyes as she spoke, "The outfit… after we got out of the RV the last time we went to the beach, I kind of burned instead of tanned that afternoon."

He knew he was probably going to insert his foot into his mouth, but he had to say it anyway, "Oh, I was just thinking how… hot you looked in the outfit."

Her head snapped up and stared at him in shock. The dark headed teenager saw the nervousness in Freddie's eyes, but he didn't break eye contact and neither did she. She replied slowly, "Ah… how about sexy?"

He allowed a smirk to appear on his face as he replied, "I think that goes without saying. You are definitely going to turn some heads today… in a very good way of course."

She smiled a little more confidently than she felt as she responded, "Of course… at least I caught your attention."

Jade held back a laugh as she saw the smirk leave Freddie's face and be replaced with soft blush forming on his cheeks.

There were so many things that crossed his mind as he took in her beauty, but he only trusted himself to say, "Yeah well… are ready to go?"

She regretfully let the smile drop and gave a slight nod then allowed him to lead her to his car.

* * *

><p>They remained awkwardly quiet for the most part during the drive other than the occasional confirmation from Jade that Freddie was heading in the right direction.<p>

They were about five minutes out from reaching the agreed meeting place for the rest of the group at the beach when Freddie pulled the car over to a street side parking spot and put the vehicle in park.

Jade looked to him with obvious concern on her face. "What are you doing?" she asked with a curious voice and raised eyebrow.

Freddie shook his head and threw up his hands as whispered, "I can't do this."

"What?" she asked keeping most of the dread out of her voice as she was totally confused at what he meant with his statement.

Freddie shook his head then looked to her with a defeated expression. "This…" He did his best to keep the hesitation and fear out of his voice, but he knew he was failing miserably, "I know it isn't just me, but… have you felt something… odd between us?"

She cleared her throat then asked, "What do you mean?"

He gave her a sad smile as he met her soft eyes that shifted more towards green in this particular instance. He whispered out, "That's what I'm talking about. I've had this feeling that I was going to trip over myself for some reason and you've been just as… tense? Distracted? If it isn't about the workshop or acting or writing or any of the other things, we can barely hold a conversation… and I think I know why."

He took a deep breath trying to gather his courage then finished what he had to say, "When you hinted at that you thought it was alright for me to think that you were 'sexy scary' I lied… no, I just didn't tell you the whole truth. I realized that I wanted to respond by kissing you… I realized all the reasons why… and all the reasons why I can't. I'm sorry… I'm sorry that I've been making you feel uncomfortable all week."

He turned his head away and looked down at the center of the stirring wheel.

She looked back at him with a mixture of surprise and sympathy as his confession threw her off from her originally thought that he was rejecting her. _She did not put herself out like that_, her mind reiterated to challenge the part of her mind that thought he had rejected her. His slow motion pulling away over the week now made sense in regards of what she knew of him. Now she was watching the self-imposed guilt and shame threaten to swallow him up. She started to wonder if his escape from Seattle was becoming more like self-imposed exile and finding anything he could to punish himself for allowing his life to spiral down to this point.

However, this was another one of those times she didn't have words to respond to his statement: no words of reassurance or encouragement or comfort that she believed that he would believe at the moment. So she fell back on the option that had worked for her over the last two weeks: she turned in her seat and reached up with the pads of her finger tips to touch under his chin and gently lifted his head so she could meet his eyes. She leaned forward and closed her eyes with what he thought was going to be another chaste kiss on his cheek, but this time it was on his lips.

He blinked for a moment before closing his own eyes and enjoying the kiss. The kiss wasn't like the one Sam gave him just a few weeks ago where it was forceful and rushed and needful. This one was quite short, but it was sweet, soft and tender.

It was so surprisingly fast that it took him a moment to realize that she had pulled away. He opened his eyes to meet her eyes. She looked just as uncertain as he felt, but the small smile on her face apparently was keeping her calm and dissipating some of the tension he felt. After a few more moments, she whispered, "I wanted to kiss you too."

He jaw slacked causing his mouth to partially open as he stared at her dumbfounded at her revelation.

She let out a breath then looked down to his chest as she rested her hand over his heart. She had to take another nervous swallow before she could finally speak. "Look… maybe… we're both going through a lot of chizz lately and we've been lonely most of the time…"

He nodded along trying to follow what she was saying and hoping that she might have an explanation to his growing attraction to her, "Yeah."

The dark haired teenager continued in a doubtful tone to his ears, but one in which she was hoping he would agree with what she was saying, "And we've been more or less stuck together for the last two weeks with no one else, so some sexual tension was bound to happen, right?"

She took another deep breath before finishing her statement, "We've kinda… been there for each other and I mean let's face it: I'm cool and hot and I've got it all, so how could you resist?"

Freddie's apprehension partially slipped away and he smirked at her as he resisted rolling his eyes even if he agreed with her. She continued softly, "And you're this handsome and unbelievable sweet and charming guy, so how could I resist you?"

He looked at her partially obscured face from the brim of her hat and her downward looking focus of her eyes on his chest and allowed his smirk to grow bigger. He was flattered by the statement, but it also made a lot of sense to him about why could suddenly start feeling something in the middle of trying to straighten himself out. They had spent a great deal of time together out of necessity at the workshop then by choice afterwards and on the weekends and they were both in pretty vulnerable positions with each being there for the other when they needed it. _Circumstantial sexual tension… yeah, that must be it… that has to be it… so I'm not the bad guy if I get the occasional feeling that isn't purely platonic._

He finally answered in calm tone, "I guess you're right."

She finally looked up at him with a relieved smile. "Of course I'm right… you are handsome and sweet and definitely charming, maybe too charming for your own good."

He chuckled and shook his head.

She could feel his tension subsiding with her hand still on his chest.

He let out another breath, but this one actually taking away some of his anxiety. "So… just some natural sexual tension… no feeling guilty for thinking you're hot and sexy?"

She shook her head softly as she replied, "Nope and I don't have to feel guilty for thinking the same thing about you."

Freddie nodded his head playfully, "What a burden? But, I think I can handle it, so…deal."

They looked to each other for a few more moments and this time the silence between them was peaceful instead of awkward.

He smiled as he finally spoke up, "I think it's time we got to the beach."

She gave a soft laugh and an agreeable nod with a soft pat on his chest.

Venice Beach  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 16, 2011

Freddie pulled into a parking spot away from some of the other vehicles in the lot. He jokingly commented as he put the car in park and turned off the engine, "Alright, no gigantic RVs to trap us inside the car."

She glanced over to him and frowned showing that she didn't think it was that funny of a joke.

Freddie shrugged a shoulder as he continued, "Yeah, well… that's the reason you're riding with me isn't it?"

"One of the reasons," she corrected with raising her left eyebrow.

"So it was my good looks or my charm?"

"Don't push it Benson," she commented with a wicked grin.

"Or maybe my sweetness?" he commented as he watched her get out of the car. He shook his head and allowed himself a brief laugh at what he knew was his lame jokes before stepping out of the vehicle. He gathered his own duffle bag out of the backseat then quickly caught up with the raven and blue/green streaked hair teenager.

The pair cut through the farmer's market as they headed for the parking space that Tori informed them that Beck would park his RV and rendezvous with them. Freddie let his gaze wonder at the various fresh food items as Jade led them to their destination. He thought that he should take an opportunity to buy a few items at some point and maybe treat his friend to a homemade meal.

As they were making their way through the farmers' market, Jade immediately noticed the red pickup truck that Beck would usually borrow from his uncle then a few steps further through the crowd and out of the market, she saw the accursed (when it was at the beach) silver RV.

The first one they saw of the group weighting around the RV was the giggling redhead. She was also the first one to see them and 'little red' ran over and greeted them happily, "Hey."

Jade let out a breath and replied dryly, "Hey Cat."

Freddie smiled back and gave a slight nod of his head, "Hi Cat."

The redhead was wearing a grey tank-top and very short blue denim shorts that allowed her to show off her legs. He finally came to the conclusion that as childlike as Cat could act, she knew exactly what she was doing with her outfit choices to catch the attention of the opposite sex and perhaps the same sex. He wouldn't be surprised if in another quantum reality that her legs caught his attention and one thing leading to another.

Tori smiled and joined the 'welcoming committee' with a greeting to Freddie, "Hey." The brunette glanced over Jade. "Wow, Jade, ah? Little over dressed?"

Jade frowned and snapped at the brunette, "I burned last time we were here, so I'm trying something different, okay?"

Tori raised her hands. "Okay sorry; just asking a question."

The dark haired teenager contemplated a sarcastic remark, but was interrupted by her overly happy friend, "I think you look cute…" Cat glanced over at Freddie and commented, "I know others have to think you look cute."

Freddie gave an even expression then desperately attempted to look at anything that could catch is attention and justify him looking away.

Beck slowly approached and heard Cat's comment. His eyes widened and his mouth became a thing line. He pushed that aside and reached the gathering with his attention focused on Jade. "Hey," he cautiously welcomed his ex-girlfriend.

"Hi," she replied with an awkward, but still quite friendly smile.

Freddie remained quiet as he watched the exchange of the former couple and caught from the corner of his eye Tori quickly shifting her gaze between the three of them and Cat apparently blissfully unaware of any potential problems.

Beck turned his attention to Freddie and the pair exchanged some friendly nods.

However, after that, quietness fell between the teenagers as they had finished with their exchanges and they stood there apparently unsure of what to do next. In those moments, Freddie wondered why they were just standing their waiting, but was more concerned as he glanced around and noticed a few absentees to the group, namely André, Robbie and Trina. He curiously asked, "Where's everyone else?"

Tori volunteered hoping to distract them from any unwanted tension from forming before their day even started, "They went hunting for a food cart so we could go ahead and grab some lunching while we're on the beach."

A few moments later as the group just started exchanging useless small talk, Robbie (and Rex) returned to inform them of an approaching food cart that they had found.

* * *

><p>As fate would have it (as if fate really existed) Freddie and Beck stood off to the side as they waited for the others to receive their orders so they could have their turns. Not surprisingly, they were both keeping most of their focus on the same particular girl.<p>

The taller teenager kept his hands in his shorts' pockets. "So you and Jade are really getting along?"

Freddie cautiously looked to Beck. "Yes we are… we are getting along great. I've been learning stuff from her that I didn't realize I didn't know about acting."

"Good, I'm glad… I know how… abrasive she can be…"

Freddie replied coyly, "You just have to get to know her, but you already knew that…"

The longer haired teenager gave a crooked smile.

Freddie cautiously commented as he realized (because he was too caught up with his own concerns about his relationship with Jade) that he hadn't seen the actor once since last Saturday and if he hadn't seen him, then…"You haven't shown up once or seen Jade since you got back from Yerba."

Freddie knew that for a fact: he was beside Jade's side during all the workshop and lunches and he knew that Beck had not went over to Jade's house after the Tech-Producer left in the afternoons. The last part may have been a guess, but one he felt comfortable in making.

Beck looked straight at the shorter teenager and Freddie felt he was being assessed by the stare. The taller teenager finally replied, "Well… things have become complicated…"

Freddie gave him an incredulous look as he quickly realized what or more importantly who had become the complication to Beck's mind. The one thing he didn't want to be to Jade had just figuratively slapped him in the face, but he wouldn't submit to that conclusion. He snorted out a reply, "Complicated? Nothing… _no one_ is standing in your way of seeing her. You're the one that walked away and you're the one that can walk—"

The Canadian born frowned for a brief moment then answered back forcibly, "Walk away? Is that the side Jade gave you about what happened between—"

Freddie glared at the taller teenager and snapped, "Maybe I don't give a damn about your side or particularly like you? That the only thing that I care about is that you meet her halfway, because I think it'll make her happy? Have you thought about that?"

Beck's eyes widened open as he stared at the shorter teenager in shock.

Freddie surprised himself with the outburst and realized that maybe he cared less for Jade's ex than he originally thought. He took a calming breath and looked down to the sand for a moment. He looked back up with a reserved expression and continued, "Look, what is going on between you and Jade is between the two of you. It's really not my place to say—"

Beck interrupted with a cool tone, "But you just did like you did last Saturday."

Freddie narrowed his look on Beck and took a deep breath. In a firm and somewhat challenging tone, the Seattle native replied, "That had nothing to do with your relationship with her, but you trying to guilt trip her into getting her to do something you wanted. I'm not going to let you do that to her."

Beck took a step forward and pointed at Freddie. "You're going to stop me from doing something? How about you take your blinders you obviously have for Jade off for a moment before you start saying what you are going to do? Have you seen her go too far? I have for years. She can go too far and I'm afraid that it is going to get her into some serious trouble one day and I don't want that to happen, so I am going to say something to her."

Freddie bit his tongue for a moment then replied with a hint of disgust in his voice, "Then maybe you should have talked to her instead of trying to treat her as a misbehaving child."

"Jade's not big on talking or listening."

Freddie cocked his head to the side as he replied, "Maybe you don't listen?"

The taller teenager raised an eyebrow and replied with a hint of disbelief in his voice, "She's talked to you?"

The brown haired boy allowed a small smile to form on his face as he countered, "It's been a long two weeks and I was willing to listen."

"Maybe… but you really don't know anything about our relationship."

Freddie replied in a stern voice, "Actually I do know something about it, probably the most important thing about it: she loves you and she knows she made some mistakes. You'd be a fool if you didn't at least try again to work out your problems with her. I wouldn't make your mistake of just giving up."

Beck took a sharp breath and countered quickly, "You mean like I'm guessing you did with Carly?"

Freddie blinked and his jaw slacked as he was trying to process what the Los Angeles actor had asked of him.

The longer haired teenager pressed his advantage, "I was a fan of iCarly before I met any of you and I remember when people posted about your fling with Carly. You dated her for what? A few days then you two broke up? I guess hindsight really is twenty/twenty in lecturing me about how I should handle my relationship with Jade or is it just your way of trying to handle your own regret?"

Freddie replied sadly, "No regret, but it is hindsight… it confirmed that breaking up with her was the right decision… was probably the best decision I ever made before she really could hurt me."

Beck tilted his head to the side and let the surprise of Freddie's comment appear on his face.

The shorter teenager continued earnestly, "I walked away because she didn't love me and I wanted it to be real, not pretend… you walked away… because you're too stupid or too much of a coward to give an honest try at working out your issues with her before just breaking off a three year relationship about concerns you admit you've had for _years_… and maybe she just might be better off as you being just her friend instead of her boyfriend."

The pair stared at one another for few moments then Beck decided to give a brief nod of his head and turned to walk over and join Tori, Trina and Robbie still getting their food at the food cart.

Freddie kept a steady gaze on the retreating actor for a moment until Jade caught the Tech-Producer's attention by cautiously strolling over.

"Is everything okay?" she whispered softly and resting a hand on the side of his arm.

He looked to her concerned face and replied with a light hearted tone, "Yeah… I was just clearing something up with Beck."

The dark headed teenager gave him an apprehensive look and slight frown.

"It's just guy talk," he tried to reassure her with a shrug of his shoulder.

She gave him a look that showed that she wasn't entirely buying his story, but didn't get to press him further as he gave her a friendly and inviting smile and asked as he noticed that she had failed to get anything from the cart, "Would you care for a walk on the beach before we eat?"

She raised an eyebrow and asked pointedly, "Isn't that being a little cliché?"

The brown eye boy tilted his head slightly and gave her a playful smirk as he replied, "Maybe, but how could I possibly pass up the chance to walk down a beach with such a lovely girl?"

She shook her head to look away from him and failed to suppress a partial laugh. She looked to him and relented to the charming smile, "Okay, a walk on the beach."

* * *

><p>Jade held and slightly swung her sandals in her left hand as Freddie was walking with her on her right side. The wind blew and causing the lower half of her shirt to flap in the breeze and exposing her abdomen. The brown eye teenager glanced away as to not to stare at her flat, if pale, stomach.<p>

He caught a few guys around their age (and some older guys that shouldn't have) looking towards Jade which caused him to subconsciously slightly walk closer to the dark haired teenager.

He prodded humorously, "Tori might have a point: aren't you a little hot… I mean, you know what I mean… in that outfit?"

She smirked as she spared a look to her walking companion. "I don't sweat, remember?"

He laughed and shook his head then turned his attention to the smiling raven haired girl. "I still don't understand how you 'don't sweat'."

She shrugged her bare shoulder and playfully looked towards him. "It's gross, so I don't do it… unless it's a hundred seven degrees."

Freddie let out a disbelieving laugh then replied, "Okay, I will have to remember that, but you are going to humor me and drink plenty of water, okay?"

She let out a defeated breath and replied, "Fine, for you."

"Thanks."

* * *

><p>The wind whipped through Beck's hair and his hands were stuffed in his short pockets as he stood facing away from the others enjoying their lunch. He wore a reserved expression and watched the 'couple' walk peacefully down the beach, but was reminded of one important fact that Freddie apparently had forgotten to realize: the Seattle native would be back in his home town in two weeks. No more complication.<p>

**Author's Note: Wow, for Freddie and Jade, denial isn't just a river in Egypt. Also, yeah, I admit that Jade's out fit was completely inspired from an outfit Liz Gillies wore at the beach in some released Twitter pictures. Jealous Beck is hard to write since he has never been shown to be jealous, but I hope it was an acceptable interpretation of him.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's Note: Hello all my dear readers. I have two chapters for this installment for you today. Thanks for all those that take the time to read and review. They are very much appreciated. **

Chapter 24

The Sidewalk Cafe  
>1401 Ocean Front Walk<br>Venice, CA  
>8:37 p.m., Saturday, July 16, 2011<p>

Freddie held up his left hand and held his fork in the other hand digging into his meal as he was trying to contain his laughter and finish his story, "Then Ashley said that it would be great for her sociology thesis. I wish you could have seen the look on their faces when she said that. The look was priceless when Carly said that I tricked them." He laughed for a moment before digging back into his meal as the group was sitting at a table along the boardwalk of the café enjoying dinner.

Jade was sitting to his left and let out a heart filled laugh as the rest of them joined in the laughter. She was enjoying the story of him giving the girls a taste of their own medicine, especially after the part where he had explained some of his equipment was beyond repair and Carly didn't offer anything to help replace it, especially since she was responsible for Cort and the equipment was necessary for her even having a show. The pale teenager eagerly asked, "What did they say to that?"

Freddie looked to her and put on his boyish grin he originally gave Carly and Sam then replied in the same confident voice, "That is correct."

Jade covered her mouth and leaned over for a moment to rest her shoulder on his shoulder with her head nearly playfully bumping his cheek.

Beck was sitting on the opposite side of the table with Tori and Trina as he sipped his drink. He hid his surprise at how relaxed Jade being was next to the Seattle born and seeing the rarity of her laughing without restraint.

Tori was able to speak out through her laughing, "Wow, they must not have been happy."

Freddie chuckled as her replied, "They were a little peeved that I tricked them, but that didn't last long because they started feeling sorry for having to fire Cort then they thought it was cute that he came back up the elevator and finally realized that the freight elevator was an elevator. I just decided to go home at that point."

Jade laughed again, "Dangerously stupid is right."

Freddie shook his head halfway lifting his fork up and stated, "I don't see how the raw meat didn't make him sick, even Sam doesn't have that much of an iron stomach."

Robbie answered smiling, "Maybe he really is a Neanderthal and he has a little better immunity and better rugged and all."

Jade rolled her eyes as the rest sighed in disbelief or shook their heads.

Rex turned and looked to his puppet master to ask sarcastically, "Really Robbie?" Robbie frowned as he looked to his companion.

Freddie snorted out a laugh, "I hadn't thought about it like that. You might be right, but they usually cooked their meat too."

The curly haired ventriloquist nodded along in agreement then went back to eating on his hamburger.

As the rest started back to focusing on their food, Beck finally decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for most of the week in a casual manner, "So Freddie, no one really asked, but why come down to L.A. for a workshop? Why here for the summer? You didn't have plans with Carly and Sam?"

Jade looked up from her plate and frowned slightly as she gave a guarded glance towards her former boyfriend. She didn't want Freddie's wound to be opened right now and was unsure why Beck was pushing for an answer. Tori's look of curiosity on her face also did not escape the notice of the pale singer. She had wondered what brunette and Freddie had spoken about when they went to Wok Star together, but apparently the topic wasn't about why he was in L.A. for the summer or at least not into any real detail.

Freddie finished a sip from his drink then let out a sigh as he sat his glass down. He answered with a half-hearted smile, "I needed to get out of Seattle… because Sam likes me now."

His explanation wasn't at all what Tori had expected as the reason for the apparent rift between the iCarly trio and she didn't bother hiding her surprise in her voice, "Sam likes you, like in really liking you? That's what happened between the three of you?"

Freddie shrugged and answered calmly, "I don't want to date Sam, I don't want to give her a chance and they can't seem to take no for an answer."

André grinned and tried to wave off as he spoke, "Freddie, it can't really be that bad that you needed to leave. They're your friends."

Freddie smirked as he replied sarcastically, "I'm here for the summer, not there and I'm not feeling one bit home sick in not seeing them. So what does that tell you?"

The songsmith lost his smile and looked back down at his food.

Beck's brow furled with a surprised expression as he asked, "Wait, it got so bad that you had to run away?"

Jade didn't like the way Beck phrased the question as it implied coward-ness on Freddie's part, but that was also the same way Freddie had described himself leaving Seattle as he had no other options. Over the last several days, the bitterness of him leaving Seattle for a time was his only option sickened her.

Freddie nodded and answered, "Yes."

Trina sitting on the other side of the table spoke up to attempt to satisfy her own curiosity, "I don't understand; she's your friend. Is the idea of dating her, maybe even once, that… repulsing that you'd leave for a month?"

"Yes, because they just won't stop and she's not my friend. She's a hateful she-demon that insults me constantly… she'll hurt me just to hurt me… she hits me…" He pointed to his left ear and a ghost of a smile crossed him features as he spoke, "The last time she really hurt me was a few weeks ago, before she decided that she likes me. She pushed me into a passing bicycler. He crashed and I got thrown into fire hydrant… I started bleeding from my ears when I hit my head and I was lucky I only lost partial hearing in my left ear for a few days."

Jade clenched her jaw tightly and Tori saw the same murderous intent in Jade's eyes that the raven haired girl had directed at her the time 'The Wood' had altered footage to make it look like she and Beck were cheating behind Jade's back. If the blonde had been present, Tori had no doubt that Jade would probably have tried to kill her. The others noticed as well and started exchanging their own worried looks and expressions and hoping that she would never direct that kind of look towards them. Beck looked down at his food in an attempt to hide his frown.

Tori was somewhat fearful to continue with the conversation, but she pressed on with her question, "Why?"

Freddie shrugged a shoulder and replied nonchalantly, "Why did she push me in front of the biker? She thought it would be funny… everyone else thinks it's funny in Seattle or don't care enough to say anything. No one condemns Sam for what she does."

"What did Carly say?"

"The same thing she says every time Sam hurts me."

Tori wore a look of apprehension as she asked, "And what's that?"

"Nothing," Freddie whispered, but then thought for a moment. "I take that back, Carly said something one time: when Sam spit a lintel in my eye, but I think that was just coming off the fact that I saved her life a few weeks earlier… but that's the only time that sticks out in my mind of her taking my side over Sam's."

The redhead had kept silent with a surprisingly impassive expression and refrained from touching her food as she listened to Freddie's explanation. Only Cat knew what was going through her mind as she was told of a surprisingly different aspect than the one she had seen from either Carly or Sam weeks ago. She finally spoke up, "Carly doesn't sound like your friend either."

Freddie smiled sadly at the redhead and replied, "She doesn't, does she?" He looked down at his food and focusing his attention back on at least trying to enjoy the nice meal.

The rest of the meal was decidedly muter on his end with Jade watching him with a worried expression the entire time while Beck watched Jade with concern.

West Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 16, 2011

Freddie spirits had lifted since the meal with the Hollywood Arts students as he was smiling at the reoccurring spot he and Jade found themselves as they stopped at her front door on the warm summer night. He patiently waited as she reached into her bag and pulled out her keys to unlocked the door.

Once she unlocked the door and slightly pushed it open, she turned to him and ran her fingers through her hair to brush some of it away from the side of her face. She let out a breath and asked with a mixture of curiosity and hopefulness, "Do you want to come inside?"

Freddie started to speak, but shut his mouth then displayed a smile. He found his words and replied, "As much as I would like that, it's been a long and very fun day and I'm not sure that I could stay awake enough to drive home safely if I stayed."

"Yeah…" she replied, but this time without the disappointment from Monday when he found an excuse to go back to his hotel room. They had made a day of it at the beach then the rest of them going out eating. She allowed a small smile to play on her lips as she rhetorically asked, "I'll see you on Monday?"

The Tech-Producer let out a playful snort then answered, "Of course, bright and early so you can knock out that audition… I'll make sure to bring you coffee."

Freddie saw that playful, beautiful smile appear on the dark haired teenager's face as she countered, "Now you're just trying to be sweet."

A corner of his mouth lifted up along with an eyebrow as he stated, "You like your coffee sweet, I'm just trying to be charming?"

Jade snorted out a laugh and shook her head as she wrapped her arms in front of her. Her reaction brought a bigger smile to his lips.

He thumbed over his shoulder. "I should… probably get going."

"Yeah…" she nodded along then quickly leaned forward catching him off guard and giving him a soft kiss on the left cheek.

He smiled back at her instantly when she pulled back slightly and looked back at him. She whispered, "Drive safely."

"I will…"

They stood there another moment just looking to one another before he lifted a hand to wave and whisper softly, "Bye."

Jade lifted her left hand barely to her shoulder to give a small wave as she whispered, "Bye," as he smiled and turned to head for his car.

She stood there for a moment and leaned against the edge of the door as she watched him get in his car then pull out of the driveway into the summer night. After seeing his taillights fade in the distance, she stepped back and shut the door then turned around to see her waiting mother just inside the foyer with her arms crossed.

The forty-something's eyes glanced towards the large grandfather clock and Jade's naturally followed the direction. The clock showed that it was just past ten. It wasn't a particular late hour for a Saturday or a summer evening, but she had been gone for most of the day.

Jade looked back to her mother and asked with a slight frown, "What?"

Mrs. West smirked and shook her head. "Nothing, you seem… happy?"

Jade glanced down to the floor for a moment before meeting her mother's equally blue eyes with a defensive look expression, "So?" She didn't wait for a reply as she walked past her mother to head upstairs.

Ruby smiled as she turned around to watch her daughter walk towards the stairs. "I'm just commenting on the turnaround of your disposition from yesterday." Ruby gave a gloating smile as she asked, "So… did the outfit work? Did it get his attention?"

Jade stopped in her tracks and turned to look to her mother. She didn't bother to hide the irritation she felt and frowned at her mother.

The dark haired beauty grinned and allowed a soft chuckle escape from her lips as she replied, "I knew it would. I accidentally grabbed my male best friend's attention one summer in a slightly different way when I was just a little older than you… he didn't know how the other guys were going to stay away from me."

Jade pulled her bag tighter on her shoulder and snorted out, "I don't see how that's funny."

Ruby looked away for a moment as she thought back on the several decades ago incident. "Taylor thought it was funny. She thought I looked pretty then we built a sandcastle."

Jade's brow furled as she tried to place the name, but her mother spoke up, "Never mind, I'm just glad you two have worked out whatever you two are going through enough not to look miserable."

The singer muttered, "That's a loaded statement."

"Oh?" Ruby asked with a curious expression.

Jade shook her head and firmly stated, "Never mind."

Ruby raised an eyebrow and smirked. "That doesn't work on me young lady."

Jade sighed loudly and rolled her eyes for a moment. She turned her attention back to her mother and answered, "We're both going through some stuff and we've really only had each other and we're both really good looking. It was just some sexual tension that crept up between us and it was just wigging us both out. We acknowledged it to each other and we're fine now."

Her mother slightly frowned and looked at her daughter with a hint of disbelief. "Just some sexual tension?"

The actress shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah, what else could it be?" She turned and continued on her way towards the stairs as she really didn't feel like continuing the conversation. She called over her shoulder, "I'm tired mom and I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

Ruby let out a breath and shook her head as she watched her daughter head upstairs. Them going from ignoring what they felt to denying that there was really anything of substance did not make the West matriarch feel any better, but actually more concerned.

As Jade passed the threshold of into her room, the thought passed her mind: _What else could it be?_


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Premiere Theater  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 23, 2011

Freddie stared at the movie screen, but he wasn't really paying attention to the movie. His mind was on the movie replaying in his own head of the confrontation at the Freezie Queen: he, Carly and Sam going round and round again and accomplishing nothing but making him angrier and them digging in further in their position that there was something wrong with him and he was the one being unreasonable. The inability of either of the girls to respect his position cemented in his mind that he really was going to have to cut them out of his life. The idea of washing his hands of his former life really was going to hurt him like Hell and it was not going to be easy, either emotionally or on a practical manner.

It was easy to put Carly and Sam out of his mind, at least for a little while, as he was in Los Angeles and he had Jade (especially Jade) and the rest of the Hollywood Arts group, but when he returned to Seattle, he would be on his own. He would still be going to Ridgeway with the other two-thirds of iCarly and Carly would still live across the hall from him.

He knew in his heart of hearts that they would just try to wear him down, because in their minds, he was the problem: Sam's behavior wasn't the problem or that he disagreed with the idea that he was somehow obligated to give Sam a chance and that infuriated him. He let a brief idea cross his mind: _I wonder how long you'd stay with Griffin if he really was a bad boy and started smacking you around and did anything he could to torment you, Carly._

Jade wrapped an arm around his shoulders causing him to turn his attention to her smiling face. The small smile that played on her lips and her compassionate eyes were her way of trying to reassure him. He let out a breath and returned with a half-hearted smile, but one that he hoped showed his appreciation of her gesture.

The momentary sanctuary from the turmoil in his head was brief as Freddie felt a vibration in his pocket from his phone. He sighed then quickly reached to pull out the pear shaped phone. He glanced down at the caller ID then quickly stood up from his seat to quietly make his way down the row, much to Jade's surprise.

Jade looked at him curiously then followed him down the row of seats out of the theater while pointedly ignoring any movie goers annoyed by her interrupting their movie experience. She caught some concerned glances from Tori and André, but Cat was too enthralled with the movie and her popcorn to notice anything.

The pale teenager made it just out of the theater to see Freddie answer the call, "Hi mom." He sighed as he was interrupted then answered a few moments later, "Yes mom, I know… they dropped by—"

He stopped as apparently his mother began speaking. He listened for a few more seconds before speaking, "I talked to them for a few minutes and it really didn't go well."

Freddie rolled his eyes at listening to his mother then replied, "No, I am not going to date Sam. I'm fine and told them that I really didn't want to deal with them. They wanted to argue, but Spencer kind of put his foot down and said they were going back to Seattle."

The corner of his mouth lifted up and his brow furled as he responded, "You got back what? My camp application? So? What does it matter?"

Jade watched Freddie nod along listening to whatever his mother was explaining.

He hesitantly asked, "What do you mean?"

The raven haired teenager was at a lost to what the conversation was about, but the growing concern on Freddie's face started filling her mind with dread.

Freddie closed his eyes and clenched his jaw tight. After a few moments to try to get his anger in check, he replied slowly, "Sam… it has to be Sam… that…" He took another calming breath then replied, "There's nothing I can do about it now… I'm just going to enjoy the rest of my week."

He paused one more time to listen to his mother then replied, "Thanks mom, I'll talk to you later. I love you." He pressed the end call button a moment later.

The dark haired girl's concern was evident on her face with a hint of anger at hearing him comment on Sam in such a manner, "What's going on?"

Freddie slipped his phone back in his pocket and lamely replied, "My mom was trying to warn me that Carly and Sam were on their way."

She frowned at his delaying tactic and whispered out dryly, "A little late."

He shrugged a shoulder as he continued, "Yeah, but she just found out that they had left to come down from Gibby."

She didn't give much thought to who she considered the odd iCarly sidekick before asking, "So what else?"

He gave a slight frown and the look in his eyes told her that he really didn't want to answer her, so responded hoping to forge ignorance, "What do you mean 'what else'?"

She wasn't buying it as she countered firmly, "You just blamed something on Sam; so what is it?"

The Seattle native shook his head with a hint of disgust and replied, "My mother just got my application back."

"The camp application? What camp?"

He nodded his confirmation to her question and continued, "Before everything happened with Sam and Carly, I was originally planning to go to the New Electronics Research and Development Camp this summer, but I didn't get accepted. They rejected my application."

Jade thought for a moment then asked, "NERD camp?"

Freddie snorted out a therapeutic laugh, "Yes, that's the acronym for it. We can poke fun at ourselves."

Jade realized as she watched his nonchalant reaction to the potential insult how easily she had looked past his nerdness and geeky-ness over the last few weeks. She thought maybe she was being a little more mature in accepting people's differences, but she doubted it. She thought it was far more likely it was the fact that it was just Freddie and his geeky ways were cool, like Liz Lemon cool, so very unlike Sinjin and the rest of his friends who could be creepy and irritating. The dark haired teenager finally asked, "So what about the application?"

The smile left Freddie's face as quickly as it had appeared before replying, "My mom wanted to tell me that all my answers to the application were changed into ridiculous and some to outright vulgar responses. I'll give you one guess on who could have done it."

A deep frown formed on Jade's face and her eyes widened slightly as she hissed out her rhetorical question, "Sam?"

Freddie nodded with a sour look on his face. "Yep, but it figures. I should have expected something from her. Going to that camp was a dream of mine plus the fact with that on my collage application I could have had my pick of any college. I could have gone anywhere I wanted to go, but now…"

He shook his head and turned to start pacing for a few moments then took a seat at one of the tables in the concession area of the theater. He looked out into nowhere in particular as he rested his chin in his palm supported by resting his elbow on the table.

Jade stood looking sadly at her defeated boyfriend. He just couldn't escape from those two janking over his life. She felt hurt and anger all at the same time. This was far beyond anything she had attempted against Tori. This wasn't some silly little thing about missing just one performance of a play that would be performed multiple times or screwing up the prom or trying to get the brunette in some kind of harmless trouble, but outright trying to ruin someone's life plans was an entirely different manner. That took an entirely new level of malice or… indifference towards someone.

On the other side of the coin, she was furious. The anger she felt at Tori the time that the brunette accidentally got Beck temporarily kicked off the set of a movie where he was playing a minor role paled in what she was feeling towards the blonde. She wanted to make Sam sad not just for a very long time, but for the rest of her miserable life. She wanted the little she-demon to feel the pain she had brought on to so many people, especially Freddie. However, at the moment she had other priories than vengeance.

She grabbed a seat from the other side of the table and moved it to sit next to the Seattle native. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder and whispered trying to keep her own heartbreak and anger out of her voice, "I'm sorry."

He shrugged and continued to stare off into the distance, "Yeah well…"

"Don't 'Yeah well' me. This was important to you… this was part of your dream, just like you know how much acting and performing is my dream," she replied allowing some of her irritation to slip in her voice. "Don't just brush it off."

"Yes it was, but I'm not trying to brush it off… there just isn't anything I can do about it. What's done is done and no chizzy reason why Sam did it or even chizzer apology she's not going to mean is going to make a difference." He looked up and gave her a small smile. He leaned forward so their faces were just inches apart as he whispered, "But… I will look on the brighter side of the situation."

She raised a curious eyebrow as she asked hesitantly, "What's that?"

"If I went there, I wouldn't have met up with you and how would our summer have turned out?"

Jade blinked as she thought on his point. "Oh my God… I don't want to have to thank Sam for anything."

He shrugged a shoulder and allowed a partial boyish grin appear on his face as he replied, "Me neither, but it's the truth and I think I appreciate the irony that her attempt to hurt me led me to something better."

"Charmer," she snorted out with a smile.

"Angel," he replied with a grin then leaned forward and catching her lips with his own lips.

_Me? An angel, what a silly notion,_ passed her mind as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and pulled him into a deeper kiss.

Tori stepped out of the theater and glanced around until she saw the pair. She walked over and asked hesitantly with an embarrassing smile, "I see everything is okay?"

Freddie looked up and smiled while Jade frowned at the brunette's interruption. He answered with an amused expression, "It turns out everything is okay. Thanks for checking on us."

"Yes, thanks Tori," she replied dryly.

Freddie gave the pale teenager a kiss on the cheek then whispered, "It's okay." He looked to the brunette and continued, "Well let's get back to the movie. I don't need Sam taking up anymore of my time."

He got up from his seat and took Jade by the hand to head back to the movie.

Tori raised an eyebrow and looked to the green and blue streaked hair girl perplexed. "Sam?"

Jade shook her head and mouthed, "Never mind," then continued walking with Freddie leaving Tori to catch up with them.

Sikowitz's Drama Classroom  
>Hollywood Arts High School<br>Monday, July 18, 2011

Freddie straddled the blue chair with the backrest in front of him and his elbow resting on the top of the backrest and his left cheek in his hand. He had sat there for about the last five minutes watching Jade pace back and forth in the deserted classroom waiting for her turn in auditioning for a spot in the short film that was going to be the compilation of all that they had learned at the workshop. He finally asked her, "Are you usually nervous?"

She stopped in her tracks and snapped her attention towards him. "What?"

He dropped his hand away from his face and rested his forearms on the backrest. He nodded his head softly as he answered, "Nervous, you look really nervous. I guess I should have bought you decaf this morning."

She snorted out an uneasy reply as she shook her head, "I'm not nervous."

Freddie tilted his head to the opposite side and gave a slight frown as he looked to her.

She sighed loudly and looked towards the ceiling as she answered, "Okay, so I'm a little nervous. I don't know why."

He gave her a reassuring smile as he spoke, "It's going to be fine. It is just like every other audition and you are going to nail it."

"You've never seen me audition."

He smirked at her as he responded, "I'll take it on faith, okay?"

She gave a nod and started pacing again around the stage of the classroom. "At least I don't have to compete with Tori," she mumbled out as she glanced out one of the windows.

Freddie took a deep breath as he looked to her with a hint of concern on his face. He stood up and pushed way from the chair to stand up. He crossed her pacing path as she continued pacing and took a seat on the top step of the stage.

She paused long enough to wonder why he had moved then saw him offering a hand held up to her. She gave a relenting smile and slipped her hand into his hand. She took the seat to the right of him while still holding his hand and resting her forearms on her knees.

He half smiled and tilted his head to look to her as he asked, "Do you know why we started iCarly?"

She blinked at the question then took a few moments to gather her thoughts for a response. "I never really gave it much thought. You were just goofing off one day like all the others with a web camera and you happened to get popular?"

"Not entirely. We got lucky when I accidentally posted some videos and people liked them, but it really started with Carly bailing Sam's butt out of trouble again and she had to judge entries for the school's talent show. Our teacher Mrs. Briggs didn't like any of her and Sam's choices. I had the equipment and Carly wanted to prove a point: that we could do anything we wanted and we didn't have to listen to any adult. We didn't need their approval at what we thought was good, just our audiences'."

The story brought a small smile to her face even if she didn't understand why he was telling it to her. "Sikowitz would disagree with you. He has all the new students do a one act play, 'The Bird Scene' before they can be in any production. It's to teach us that we have to trust our own judgments about our performances and not worry about what others think."

Freddie nodded along, but countered, "I think Sikowitz is wrong. It doesn't matter how good you think you are if the audience doesn't like it, they don't watch it and then you don't have a show."

Jade let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "That makes me feel real better Freddie."

"But you have the talent to impress them, that I have no doubt."

She gave him a warm smile as she appreciated the complement. However, her curiosity was getting the best of her, so she asked, "Why are you bringing this up? Not that I'm not enjoying your story, but I don't understand."

He grinned and softly squeezed her hand still resting in his own. "I'm bringing it up to show you that we didn't play the game everyone else thought we should play to make it, especially the adult establishment, we played our own. Maybe you can play your own?"

The green/blue streaked hair girl's brow furled as she looked at him and asked, "Start a webshow?"

He shook his head. "Not exactly… you can make more short films. They're really good. I've seen them, remember? Start doing them on a regular basis if you really feel you're not getting your fair share of the performances. Maybe you can start producing more plays like 'Well Wishes'? Build your résumé up on your own terms and not wait on whatever scraps you can get from the school including this part you're worrying yourself over. Acting is really important to you, I mean really important from what I've seen over these last two weeks."

She let her shoulders slump as she whispered slightly dejected, "It's my dream… even if I have just a one out of ninety-thousand chance of making it as a professional."

He softly squeezed her hand and playfully nudged her shoulder then continued, "Then keep what I said in mind so I can save my pity for the other eighty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine dreams you're going to crush when you make it to the top. I can always help you if you need it."

Her momentary feeling of gloom was swept aside and replaced with a new sense of reassurance as she was touched by his sentiment. She nodded and whispered, "I will, but you're not going to put them on iCarly,"

The brown haired teenager laughed softly and shook his head, "No, since I'm probably not going to be a part of it when I get back unless Carly and Sam magically change before I get back. You can put them on SplashFace just like that Squires guy did with the film all of you worked on. Remember: make your own opportunities, don't depend on the school."

Ava poked her head around the corner of the back classroom door and spoke catching the pair off guard, "They're ready for you Jade."

The dark haired actress turned her head and acknowledged the light haired brunette with a nod, "Okay, I'll be right there." She looked back to the brown eyed teenager to speak, "Thanks Freddie."

"You're welcome. Do you want me to watch your audition?"

"No… just let me worry about impressing them instead of you."

He chuckled for a few moments before catching his breath and responding, "You already impress me."

She held onto her smile as well as his hand as she stood up.

"I'll see you in a few minutes," he reassured her enough so that she would let go of his hand. She squeezed his hand then allowed it to slip out of her own, but dragging her fingertips across his palm and fingers as she slid out of the grip.

Jade turned and headed out the door, walking passed Ava, but glanced over her shoulder one last time to look towards him where he responded with a wink and his boyish grin. She smirked and shook her head as she was exiting the classroom.

Freddie let out the breath he didn't realize that he was holding then looked to Ava. He studied her for a moment then raised an eyebrow as he allowed a curious grin to form on his face. "Ava, why do you look so familiar?"

She snorted out a laugh before replying, "My twin sister goes to Ridgeway…"

**Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this installment. Wow, a lot of people found out a lot of stuff in these chapters and finally getting back to the present for a little bit. There is a little shout out to another show within a show if you caught it. We are kind of approaching the home stretch for this story with it wrapping up in the next two to three weeks. Well, until next Friday/Saturday.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I hope my American readers had a nice Thanksgiving. Thanks to all that continue to read and review. This is a particularly long installment ( ~12,000 words) and I hope you enjoy. I would have gotten to you sooner, but I hurt my hand over the last week, but I'm fine and it is healing up great. Oh, and after you are done (and is you are able to read M rated stories, you know if that is appropriate for your age level to read or not) go read Snapplelinz's latest installment of 'Against my Better Judgment' and leave her a nice review.**

Chapter 26

Black Box Theater  
>Hollywood Arts High School<br>Los Angeles, CA  
>Friday, July 22, 2011<p>

It was approaching two in the afternoon as Freddie was adjusting the settings on the camera as he and Sinjin were off to one side of the theater checking the cameras while the rest of the students around them were scurrying about checking the other equipment or backstage in wardrobe. Freddie and Sinjin had been the only real choices in doing the primary camera work for the short film since the rest of the portion of the class that focused on that area wasn't even close to either of their technical expertise. Freddie had the obvious edge with the years of experience of doing the weekly iCarly shows, so to make it a little fairer to see which one it would be, they decided to just flip a coin.

Freddie won.

The Tech-Producer originally didn't care either way as the real enjoyment was the experience in making the short film and the enjoyment of working with his fellow workshop participants, but his apathy quickly turned into gratitude with what Jade had told him the news about the outcome of her audition just after they got to school on Wednesday morning…

_Black Box Theater_

_Wednesday, July 20, 2011_

_Freddie was flipping through some loose-leaf papers and glancing over some of yesterday's notes as he relaxed in one of the grey chairs before the first lecture of the day was about to get started. He was pulled out of his reading from the excited voice of Jade, "I got the role."_

_He lifted his head to see her smiling face then placed his papers in the neighboring seat to get up. As soon as he was on his feet, Jade pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and joined her in laughter. She rested her arms around his shoulders and the back of his neck while he kept his hands on the small of her back. Freddie caught from the corner of his eye a few of the students staring at them with surprise looks on their faces, but he pointedly ignored them and just enjoyed the comfort in holding the dark haired teenager. _

_She was the first to pull back slightly and rested a hand on each shoulder. _

_He gave her his boyish grin as he responded, "I told you so." _

_She smirked and shook her head. "Real funny Benson." _

"_You already knew I was funny," he replied just as playfully. _

_She dropped her hands from his collarbones signaling that it was time to drop his hands from her back. She eyed him playfully. "Yeah, you are funny."_

_He grinned in triumph then continued, "I may not be the best actor, but I can help you practice if you want to. My focus may be comedy, but I think I could muddle through drama enough to help you." _

_She slightly tilted her head to the side as she replied in a reassuring tone, "Freddie, I think you are far more talented than you give yourself credit and I would love for you to help me." _

_He raised an eyebrow. "Now you're just being sweet." _

_She smiled softly and gave him a coy look with her eyes the same way she did months ago when André asked who the daddy was for his pretend baby she gave him for Sikowitz's overnight assignment at his home. "No I'm not. I'm not just returning the favor, I mean it."_

_He smiled in return as he replied, "Thanks…"_

…Freddie chuckled as he finished his final adjustment on the camera and looked to Sinjin and asked, "So, you and Ava?"

Sinjin bashfully looked away then grinned, "Kinda… maybe."

Freddie patted him on the shoulder. "She's cute—"

The skinny teenager looked up and started talking in a dreamy manner, "And sweet and nice and doesn't have a problem with me being…"

"Weird?" he interrupted with a lighthearted expression.

Sinjin blinked and turned his attention to the brown haired Tech-Producer.

Freddie snorted out a laugh, "Sinjin, we're all a little weird. I've been called a nub on a regular basis. It's just nice to have someone not think less of you for it."

The curly haired teenager chuckled then asked with a conspiratorial whisper, "You mean like with Jade?"

Freddie rolled his eyes then looked back to the camera.

Sinjin continued unabated as Freddie attempted to end the conversation with his silence, "How did you do that? I've been trying for years for her to—"

The Seattle native looked up with an even expression and raised a hand, "I don't know what you're talking about Sinj."

He nodded along and smirked, "Right…"

* * *

><p>Jade let out a breath as she exited the dressing room behind and to the side of the stage. What she had to wear for the various characters she would play didn't usually bother her or really ever given much thought to the wardrobe, but the character she was playing had a propensity for pink and for the first time she could remember for a performance at Hollywood Arts, she actually had to take the colored streaks out of her hair and her facial piercings. She could handle playing a caricature character of Betsy-Sue Goldenheart and all the accompanying sweetness, but this character felt a little too real and normal… someone her father would probably far more approve of for a daughter. However, Freddie was right about avoiding being typecast in the future and pushed aside those feelings because she did consider herself a professional and would make the role her own.<p>

So she felt on solid ground for her first scene this afternoon as she cut through the stage to meet up with Freddie, but she was surprised and slowed her pace at seeing Tori, André, Cat entered the theater. Apparently Freddie was too busy talking to Sinjin to notice any of them and she was the first one they saw first as they entered.

Cat eagerly approached, passing several other students eagerly preparing for the shoot, to greet the dark haired teenager, "Hi."

Jade raised a curious eyebrow at the redhead and asked, "Hi… why are you here?"

Cat laughed as she replied obviously to her mind, "We wanted to see you perform and hang out this afternoon."

Tori and André had caught up with Cat with Tori continuing with a grin, "You know, just like you were there for me to watch me land on the air sack."

Jade put on a sour expression and narrowed her eyes on the cheerful brunette.

Freddie approached from Jade's right just in time to hear the last of Tori's statement. Freddie gave the arriving trio a friendly nod then asked with a curious expression and raised eyebrow, "Air sack?"

Jade sighed with a half roll of her eyes, "When she did that stunt work on the movie she tried to audition for."

Freddie nodded along as the conversation about her and Tori's one-sided professional rivalry came back to him. "When we were talking about roles and Tori's thin résumé?"

She cocked her head to the side and gave a slight nod. "Yeah."

It was Tori's turn to look slightly peeved and stated with an exacerbated tone, "Thin résumé? You told me to pad it."

Jade smirked, "I told you that you should never lie on your resume."

The brunette scowled and narrowed her gaze at the increasingly smug looking actress who was ready to start laughing.

Freddie kept his mouth shut as he was determined to stay out of what he thought and had voiced to Jade was an unnecessary rivalry, but would never think or say that Jade's feelings on the matter were silly or childish, just that he wish it didn't have to be since friendships were hard enough to maintain least long frienemy-ship. He hoped that when school started back that she would take up his advice of making her own opportunities and thus removing one of the things that caused so much friction between the actresses.

Before anyone else could say anything, Sikowitz walked on to the stage with his arms in the air and called out, "Everyone, grab what you need. We're heading out to the Asphalt Café to shoot our first scene. We have about two hours left for today and I want us to get at least that scene done before we leave for the weekend."

Jet Brew  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Friday, July 22, 2011

They Hollywood Arts students and Seattle native made it to the coffee shop in record time as the scene that Sikowitz was so eager to get done before the day was out for them went relatively smoothly and was completed in record time. Jade nailed her scenes of a sweet, girl next door Elizabeth while Freddie, especially with the help of Sinjin and his crew, made sure the camera was exactly where it needed to be for her. He said he'd make the camera work for her the first day of the workshop and he intended to keep his promise.

As soon as they had finished shooting, Jade put back in her eyebrow ring and nose stud before they headed to the coffee shop.

Jade was sipping on her coffee sitting beside Freddie at their usual afternoon table as he was enjoying his usual smoothie. Cat was seated to their right and she particularly liked the smoothie she was sipping on that Freddie had suggested that she might enjoy (it was red and very sweet). She was enjoying it so much so that she was nearly done with it and was eager to order a second one.

Tori sitting with André across from the pair (and taking Jade's usual seat, much to the chagrin of the pale teenager) softly laughed as she commented, "It was interesting seeing you play the nice girl for a change."

Jade finished her sip of coffee then grinned at her rival. "You've seen me play a nice girl before; you picked her remember? Betsy-Sue Goldenheart, the sweet farm girl?"

Freddie sat his smoothie down on the table and glanced to Jade with a playful expression. "Farm girl?"

Tori raised a finger as she answered not realizing too late that it might be a sore point for the brown eyed teenager, "Yeah, she's kind of like the idiot farm girl Carly plays except—"

Jade finished in a dry tone, "She's not stupid and sweeter."

Freddie's jaw slacked for a moment as he tried to hold back a laugh ignoring the thought about Carly, but focusing on the blue eyed girl to his left. He let out a soft chuckled as he spoke, "I'm intrigued and afraid at the same time at imagining how you looked."

"Well… the costume is nearly the same. We took some pictures. I'll show you one later."

"Okay… so why did Tori pick for you to be a sweet farm girl?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "Acting exercise for Sikowitz to get us to appreciate method acting. We each picked somebody to play over at his house for a night to see who could stay in character the longest. I picked André to be a guy who just ran a marathon… and nine months pregnant," she finished with a playful smirk.

André spoke in a nonchalant manner, "I still want to know who the daddy was."

Jade smirk grew bigger at the songwriter and remained silent.

Cat laughed, "I was a stand-up comedian from the nineteen-eighties."

Tori picked up without missing a beat, "I was a cop that ate Raisin Brand and wore too much lipstick."

Freddie laughed at the ideas for characters then replied, "Oh… so who won?"

Tori raised a hand, "I did."

Jade frowned and tilted her head to the side as she eyed the Latino/Caucasian teenager.

The brunette sighed as she saw the stare and corrected, "Actually, it was me and Beck. The rules were until morning and neither of us broke before that; he just broke first when we woke up that morning."

Freddie gave a half smile to the answer then looked to Jade. "How did you break character?"

"I didn't," she replied confidently.

Tori continued, "She burned her hand on a cooking pan and only broke after she left to go to the hospital."

His face filled with dread as he reached over to take her hand to examine the delicate appendage for any scarring.

She snorted out with a hint of humor and gave him a reassuring smile that he didn't see since he was too busy examining her palm. "It's alright, but it didn't even leave a scar."

He looked up and smiled embarrassingly when he saw her somewhat amused expression. "Oh, right," he mumbled out and let her hand slip away and grasped his cup to take a sip to try to act like what he did wasn't out of the ordinary.

Cat hid a smiled as she took another sip from her drink while Tori and André shared a quick glance. The songsmith then raised his cup as he spoke, "That was some great camera work. We could have used you when we did our film with Dale Squires."

"Thanks, but Jade showed me it and I think Sinjin did a fine job. It would be fun though to do a film with everyone. I've learned a few tricks from the workshop I'd really like to try. I wish I would have known them when we did our short films in Seattle: 'The Blowing', 'Moonlight, Tri-Blood'. The little more sophisticated equipment instead of a shoestring budget would have helped too… well, partial shoestring since I do spend quite a lot of money for equipment."

Jade mumbled under her breath before taking another sip of her coffee, "And never thanked for it."

A corner of Freddie's mouth turned up as he spared her a glance, but refrained from commenting.

Cat slightly frowned as she sat her drink down. She whispered sadly, "I'm sorry we won't get the chance. It's going to be sad when you have to go back to Seattle. We'll miss you."

Jade stiffened for a moment and her smile faltered before she consciously realized her reaction then her mind started thinking about the obvious: Freddie would be leaving after next Friday. Dread started filling her stomach and she immediately directed her gaze towards the table and her coffee. She turned her head slightly to see Freddie from the corner of her eye.

He put on an even expression and cleared his throat. "Yeah, but you know… that's just…" he shrugged his shoulder and looked to Jade as he finished, "You know I'll be back for visits. I could come back as soon as Labor Day and we can go to the beach again to celebrate the end of the summer."

Jade nodded along, but whispered in an unconvincing manner to anyone really paying attention at the table, "Right… Labor Day then…"

Tori frowned slightly for a moment at seeing the pair obviously realizing their inevitable separation (reinforced by the fact that they were ignoring the rest of them at the table to awkwardly reassure one another), so put on the biggest grin possible trying to be cheery and lighten up the mood from the sudden down turn of happy camaraderie and stated, "Then we shouldn't waste one bit of the time. I think we should go out tomorrow, maybe catch a movie or something?"

Cat clapped happily as she shouted, "Can we go to Freezie Queen?"

Jade slightly shook her head while letting out a breath then agreed with a dry tone, "Yes Cat, we'll go to Freezie Queen tomorrow."

Jade and Freddie turned their attentions to one another. They put on the best fake smiles each could for the other.

Premiere Theater  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 23, 2011

The gathering of friends finished watching the movie without any further incident or interruption and decided to have an early dinner in the food court of the theater. Their food had just arrived and Freddie shook his head as the theater employee that had delivered their food walked off.

Tori continued to stare at the retreating employee and commented to the rest, "It's kind of creepy that Steve guy looks exactly like Spencer."

Freddie shrugged a shoulder then took a quick sip from his soda. "They could be twins… like you and Shelby."

She turned her head quickly and gave him an annoyed stare. "I do not look that much like her."

He shook his head and smirked for a moment before popping a French fry into his mouth.

"I hate twins," Jade commented dryly then took a sip from her drink.

Tori scowled for a moment, but decided not to argue the point.

They casually began talking about the movie for a few minutes and sharing their thoughts on it then a few minutes later Tori asked, "So Freddie, is everything okay? You know, about earlier leaving?"

The former Tech-Producer let out a relieved sigh then answered, "Yeah, it was just my mother checking in on me. She just kind of a—"

"Worrier?" Jade supplied as she had learn how overprotective the Benson matriarch could be at times through putting together bits of conversations with Freddie.

Freddie laughed off, "That's one way to put it."

Tori hesitantly brought up, "Okay, but you mentioned Sam before coming back inside the theater."

The statement caused the rest of the table's occupants to turn their full attention towards Freddie: André concerned, Cat curious and Jade annoyed.

His happy disposition quickly left and was replaced with one of mild irritation. "Yeah… I just out about something she did to me weeks ago."

She asked slowly hoping that he would give her a positive response, "But it's okay now?"

He hesitantly began, "Right now everything has worked out to a pleasant surprised, but my future is a little up in the air."

Jade scowled out with an annoyed expression, "She screwed up his college plans."

Tori's eyes squinted as she asked with a hint of disbelief, "What?"

The other two looked at the pair equally confused as the brunette.

Freddie quickly supplied an answer, "I had a chance to go to a technology and research camp this summer that would have helped out a lot on a college application, but Sam sabotaged my application."

Tori raised an eyebrow as she answered for clarification, "So if it wasn't for her in another way, you wouldn't be here?"

"Don't remind us," Jade countered with evident distain in her voice.

Tori raised a hand. "Sorry… on the bright side at least you don't have to worry about her or Carly right now. They already know about the two of you and they really can't do anything else on their way back to Seattle."

A soft spoken voice commented, "Now there's only one more person that needs to know."

The quartet turned their heads quickly to look at the redhead looking back at them with an innocent expression as she started to sip the straw of her drink.

Jade looked down at the table with a slight frown for a moment without really focusing on anything. "I have to go to the restroom," Jade whispered quickly and got up without waiting to hear anyone's comments.

* * *

><p>Jade exited the restroom a few minutes later after taking the time alone to try to put her emotional shields back up from Cat's Cassandra statement smashing them down. She still didn't want them to see her that vulnerable. She didn't walk far as she stopped when she saw Freddie sitting on a bench against the opposite wall a few yards down from the restrooms. He smiled softly as she cautiously approached him and stopped just to his right. She looked down at him with a curious expression as he remained seated and asked, "What?"<p>

He held his smile and softly whispered, "Just talk, I'll listen."

She turned her gaze away to break from his compassionate expression.

He reached up and gently slipped his hand into her left hand.

Instinctively she squeezed his hand for reassurance. She took a deep breath then started hesitantly and with a broken voice, "Cat's right, I need to talk to Beck… I need to tell him about us… he—"

Freddie softly spoke up with a supportive smile, "He needs to know… at least about us together other than that—"

The pale teenager turned her head to meet his soft eyes once again and answered nodding along, "That's between us."

Freddie held his sight on her bluish/green eyes and got up from his seat. He shrugged his shoulders with a soft smile. "Okay, I'll let them know we need to go then I can take you to see Beck?"

She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his forehead. She whispered softly, "Thank you."

He cracked the faintest of smiles then kissed the corner of her mouth. "You're welcome."

Beck's RV  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 23, 2011

Jade let out a nervous breath as she stared at the silver door of the used RV and tried to shake off the apprehension that was threatening to overwhelm her. She swallowed down enough fear to lift her pointer finger up to press the doorbell.

The seconds ticked by in Jade's head as she waited for the door to open. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the door opened quickly and she looked up to see a surprised looking Beck.

"Hey," she whispered as she thought it was the safe (and expected) thing to say.

"Hi," he replied with an equally hesitant reaction. He noticed the blue and white patterned shirt she was wearing was not one of her own as it was too big or an old shirt that use to belong to him, which of course only left one very likely owner that had given it to her to wear.

She gave him a hopeful expression with her raised eyebrows and wide eyed expression as she asked, "Can we talk?"

Beck pulled his eyes away from his ex to look above her head and t his right to see Freddie leaning against the front of his rental car waiting further down the driveway. The Seattle native to Beck's eyes was trying to look calmed and collected with his arms wrapped around the front of his chest as he tried to pass off looking like he was just casually waiting on Jade. Freddie, however, did not hesitate to meet Beck's eyes as actor looked upon the former Tech-Producer.

The actor looked back down to Jade and nodded with a smile. "Sure," he replied then motioned her inside.

She quickly took the steps to pass him and enter the RV. He followed behind her and pulled the door shut.

She looked around out of habit, but didn't notice any significant changes from two weeks ago.

Beck glanced to the floor then up at her back as he stuffed his hands into his jean pockets and shifted his weight between his feet. He cleared his throat then asked, "So… you and Freddie… are really together?"

Jade quickly turned around and blinked with surprise at his question, but resigned for the moment to accept his inexplicable knowledge about the pair. She gave him a sad smiled, but not a regretful one as she replied, "Yes, me and Freddie. I needed to let you know… you shouldn't be the last to know."

Beck pursed his lips and nodded as he directed his gaze down to the floor.

She shook her head as a physical sign of her confusion, "How did you know?"

He shrugged his right shoulder. "Carly and Sam told me—"

Jade's trepidation quickly turned to her more comfortable reaction of anger as she clenched her jaw tight and snorted out an irritated breath. She closed her eyes and shook her head. After a moment to gather her thoughts, she looked up and whispered, "I didn't want you to find out that way… I wanted to let you know…"

Beck nodded then continued in a reassuring tone, "It's alright… they stopped by a little while ago and told me. They weren't too happy about finding out about you two being together… especially Carly. They wanted me to talk to you about changing your mind. They think you two are being a little irrational and just jumping into a relationship, that you're taking advantage of him."

Her neck muscles tensed up and she clenched her fists. Her mind reeled, _'The sheer arrogance of that girl. How many more times is she going to insult him?'_ She took a calming breath so she could ask, "What did you tell them?"

Beck smirked as he replied, "Do you really have to ask?"

Her anger dissipated for a moment and was replaced with a sense of shame as she put on a small frown and looked to the green carpeted floor. She slightly shook her head as she replied, "I'm sorry. It's been a long day, especially having to deal with Carly first thing this morning then again with Sam during lunch. I thought I could be stubborn, but those two…"

"I won't argue with either point…" he replied with a hint of laughter in his voice.

The dark haired teenager snapped her head up to look at him with a confused and somewhat annoyed expression, but that quickly vanished and replaced with a small smile at seeing that it was just his friendly jibing of her.

Beck continued, "I told them I didn't want anything to do with whatever they were planning." Beck's smile fell and he let out a tired breath. "But I can't say that I might not agree with them a little bit or that I'm thrilled that you… I'm still working on how not to be with you. I'm not going to be filled with a warm fuzzy feeling seeing you with another guy so soon."

"_He finally shows some jealousy and it's too late…"_ She wouldn't pretend that she didn't feel at list a bit of bitterness about his confession even if she was now with Freddie, but just as Freddie and she knew, they were each going into their relationship with some heavy baggage. Jade responded with another slight nod as she was hesitant in what she would say. She finally replied in a timid voice, "Thank you… I'm still working on it too…"

"By being with him?"

"No, I'm not using him to get over you…" She took a deep breath then released it slowly as she continued, "I like him and he likes me. We've been happy together and we think there might be something there more than our friendship. We want to see where it goes."

He ran a hand through his thick hair and let out a tired breath. "That makes sense…" He trailed off as he met her eyes and they stood there for a few moments just exchanging looks mixed with sympathy and maybe a little understanding and acceptance.

Beck snorted out a laugh and shook his head as a thought occurred to him. "You know… they even tried to convince me that you and Freddie…" started then he tilted his head from side to side as he finished with a smile showing how ridiculous the idea was to him, "you know…"

Jade took a sharp breath through her nose and clamped her mouth shut.

His face took on a look of surprise for a moment from her unexpected reaction. He raised an eyebrow and started slowly, "You and him didn't actually…"

Jade took an audible swallow and stared him straight in the eyes. She spoke in a tone that stated her intention that she wasn't going to broker any argument, "I'm not apologizing."

Beck shook his head with utter disbelief on his face then pointedly ignored her nonverbal challenge. "You slept with him? We never… why?"

She turned her gaze away, unable to see the look of hurt in his eyes. "I… I can't explain why and I don't feel like I need to explain it. I'm not going to talk about it with you right now… maybe not ever."

"You don't think you need to give me at least a little of an explanation? We loved each other—I still love you and we have been together for three years and we never went that far, but you know him really for three weeks and you and him…" He stopped and closed his eyes as he shook his head.

Her chest started to ache at watching him break. She had no explanation to give him. She was still didn't have a complete handle on any definitive answer as to why she and Freddie had made love last night (and twice this morning). She had a few strong guesses that were enough to satisfy her for the moment, but she doubted they would be enough to suit him.

His broke voice pulled her out of her own musings as he asked, "Do you love him?"

She took a deep breath wondering when he'd get around to asking the question, but she was surprisingly ready for it, "Like us? No."

He slightly frowned from her response and saw the hurt in his eyes. Her answer just confused him more on why she would with Freddie.

The look on his face compelled her to speak even if she wasn't sure what to say, "I didn't… with him or getting into a relationship with him to hurt you."

Beck took a slow breath then palmed his forehead and finished with running his fingers through is hair. He studied her for a moment and still being able to read her like a book, he replied softly, "I know… I couldn't tell if you didn't realize it or you were just lying to yourself about what was happening between the two of you."

The pale teenager's eyebrows furled and her mouth slightly dropped for an instant before asking, "Was it that obvious?"

The thicker haired teenager shrugged a shoulder as he replied, "With you? Of course, but with him… he made it pretty obvious even if he was trying to fool himself."

The comment pricked at something in her brain causing her to feel the need to defend her boyfriend. Jade replied firmly, "He wanted me to get back with you… he really did…"

"At first—"

"_Always_… because he wants me to be happy, but something changed his mind in thinking I would be happy back with you."

He rolled his eyes and flippantly replied, "That's an understatement."

She gave him a deep frown and crossed her arms.

He raised his hands up. "Sorry, I didn't mean that to come out or sound like an insult."

She looked down at their feet as she thought on how to respond. Her usually defensive and vicious response she relied on wouldn't help her in this instance and she didn't want to hurt him anyway, so she remained silent.

As the seconds ticked by with neither speaking, Jade felt the silence becoming just as stuffy and thick as the air did when they were trapped in the RV last year for hours.

Beck was the one that finally cut the air with statement that didn't surprise the dark haired teenager, "I didn't stop loving you."

Jade may have expected it, but hearing it was another matter. She swallowed upon hearing it and this was the moment of truth for her. She looked up to meet his eyes and with all her emotional reserves replied, "And I haven't stopped loving you… but we can't go back. It's not going to play out like last year."

He gave a slight nod and soft smile that surprised her. "I didn't tell you that to change anything or get you not to be with Freddie, just… I needed you to know."

She gave him a warm smile. "Thank you… are we still going to be okay?"

"Yeah," he whispered back. He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets to help settle him as he continued, "I just think it might be just a little rougher than expected and I'm not going to say it doesn't hurt that you'd share that with him instead of with us one day or that I really understand why, but we'll get there… I'm not going to interfere. It's going to be hard enough for it to work with him in Seattle, but just don't expect me to cheerlead okay? And I reserve the right to kick Freddie's ass if he screws up like I did," he finished awkwardly, but with his charming smile.

Jade gave him a soft, understanding smile. She couldn't escape the long, hard road ahead: working out a long distance relationship with Freddie and the time it was going to take to get back to a rock solid relationship with Beck, but she had her chance which was far more than what Freddie had waiting back in Seattle. She pushed that thought aside for a moment so she could focus on the matter at hand as thinking on what Freddie was going to face would depress her. She put on a playful smile as she answered, "As long as I don't have to cheerlead when the girls really start flocking to you for a chance when school starts back and I get to do the same to them without a word from you."

He snorted out a laugh, "Deal." Once his laughter settled, he offered his arms out for a hug.

Her smile grew bigger and she was more than willing to accept the offer. She wrapped her arms around his back and rested her head on his shoulder as his rested on the small of her back.

The taller boy whispered, "I love you Jadelyn West."

She closed her eyes and whispered back, "I love you too Beck Oliver."


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: I just want to warn you, my dear readers that this chapter has adult themes and violence. You may not even like the violent part, but let me know either way.**

Chapter 27

Freddie's Hotel Room  
>Friday, July 22, 2011<p>

Jade tried to put on a brave face for Freddie as she sat on a stool on the living room side of the kitchen counter while he had his attention focused inside the opened refrigerator and trying to figure out what to fix them for an early midnight snack after spending the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening with Tori, Cat and André going to anywhere they thought Freddie would enjoy in L.A. She thought she was doing a pretty good acting job of it as Cat's stray comment of Freddie being back in Seattle by next week and handful of days stabbed her just as painfully as when she and Beck broke up. She didn't want him to see how much she was hurting, because she couldn't ignore the fact that from his earlier attempts that he would drop everything to make her feel better instead of trying to enjoy every last moment while he was still in Los Angeles.

_Was still in Los Angeles… _

She closed her eyes for a moment as that thought lingered in her mind. He was going back to Seattle and be with people that really didn't give a damn about him or would just outright hurt him for the fun of it. He would be more than a thousand miles away from them… from her… with nothing but e-mails, phone calls, video chats and maybe the occasional visit, while he would be surrounded by backstabbers and so-called friends.

The pale teenager opened her eyes and looked back to Freddie still searching the refrigerator and thinking on what to fix them. Her mind wondered further as she watched him:

_Why should he suffer that way? _

_What did he do to anyone to deserve that treatment?_

_Why does Sam get a free pass?_

_Why do… why do I get a free pass?_

She slightly shook her head as she'd save her own condemnation for another time.

She knew her opinions about the situation the Tech-Producer faced going back were harsh, but she felt what she felt. It hurt more that she couldn't do what she usually done: speak and write what she felt. It's not like it would have made a difference. What could she do? Somehow magically find a way for him to stay? Would he stay if he had the option?

_Or am I just trying to hold on to the idea that what we have is more than just some summer escape, just ports in the storm for each other before going right back out into our lives._

It had to be more between them than just a temporary refuge for each other from their lives crumbled around them and losing what they used to hold as absolute truths of their lives: she would have Beck and he would always have Carly as a friend. It had to be more than just some stray sexual tension. It had to be more than just a matter of convenience, but… she didn't have the words to express the sentiment… she didn't think they would be enough anyway.

_She hoped it was more…_

* * *

><p>Freddie sighed as he scanned each shelf of the refrigerator and thought on what he could fix them for an early midnight snack. <em>'Would she like night breakfast?'<em> he wondered with a curious expression on his face as his eyes caught sight of the carton of eggs. He reminded himself that he was going to have swing by the farmers' market at Venice Beach to buy some fresh food to fix Jade a nice meal before he left… before he left. The fact that Cat had poignantly pointed out that he was leaving in a week jumped to the forefront of his mind once again and stabbed at his heart. One week and he would be back home. One week and he'd be back to a place that treated him as a punch line to a joke. One week and he'd have to face Carly and Sam and probably start fighting all over again.

One week and he would be without Jade.

He closed his eyes as that thought struck him so hard that he felt the phantom pain in his left knee and right wrist that he hadn't felt since rehab from his literal run in with the taco truck.

He looked up and over to turn his attention to the dark haired beauty sitting on the other side of the kitchen counter. He froze as he just looked at her with wonderment and trepidation as he was caught in the same place he was when she hinted at him that it was alright to think of her as sexy. There was no harsh pretense of a look on her face or emotional walls she put to protect herself, but honesty. She couldn't hide her expression of being deep in thought about something with maybe a hint of sadness, because she could be so expressive and he had learned to read them fairly quickly.

One expression he realized that he loved was the one when she would show her sweet disposition and somewhat innocent expression that she constantly hid but he knew was there deep inside of her and shining from her bluish/green eyes. He being able to see those moments made him feel a little bit special as he knew she didn't do that often, but shared it with him. There were many facets to Jadelyn West and he realized that he loved seeing them all.

His few moments of admiring Jade didn't last long as all that apprehension and fear returned as his mind and morality demanded that he do what he thought was best to put Jade first and not his own personal wants or needs that had developed. They had agreed that it was just some sexual tension. There was just friendship between them, as much as that had come to mean to him, but their relationship went no further than that: platonic friendship. Beck was still in the picture for Jade as a romantic possibility and he shouldn't interfere. His doubts threatened to overwhelm him until one clear voice in his mind shouted, "Screw nobility."

He stood up straight while still holding the door open as he let that train of thought continue, _'How is it noble to stand aside once again for another guy that won't treat the girl as good as you?'_

He closed the refrigerator then slowly walked from the kitchen and around the counter to stand at her right.

He leaned forward so that his focused was on her eyes and gave her a warm smile. She stared back unsure of why he approached her and was looking at her in that manner, but his smile swept away any apprehension she may have felt.

She asked softly trying her best for her voice not to crack, "What?"

The brown eye boy shook his head and let his fear and doubts show on his face as he answered, "I don't have the words Jade. I don't have the words to give you."

The bluish/green eye girl took a sharp intake of breath and her eyes widened.

He hesitantly lifted his right hand and brushed the side of her cheek with his thumb for a moment as he tenderly cupped her cheek. He leaned a little closer until his lips gently brushed her lips to tease them for an instant before applying pressure and kissing her.

She closed her eyes and returned the gentle kiss as he showed no sign of pulling back nor did she want him to pull away.

Her hands slid up his chest and around his neck to cup his cheeks for a moment as she pulled him forward to slowly deepen the kiss. They finally pulled away from one another to catch their respective breaths. Bluish/Green eyes met brown eyes as they stared at one another for a few seconds both trying to convey to the other's their feelings without speaking a word.

Apparently the nonverbal facial expressions were not enough for Jade to say what she needed to say, so she stood up and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck to pull him into another deep kiss.

Freddie answered the kissing challenge just as eagerly and he wrapped his hands around to the small of her back. His fingertips started sliding under the hem of her short black buttoned spaghetti strap top at the small of her back and sent a shiver up her spine. Her breath caught in her mouth from the sensation of his lazily circular motion of the pad of his fingertips.

Freddie grinned into their next slow kiss as he realized that she was enjoying the playful contact.

Jade slowly pulled her arm from behind his neck and trailed across the side of his neck until she reached the first button of his shirt. Her other hand quickly followed suit to cupped his cheek. The fingers of her left hand caught his first button and forefinger and thumb pushed the button through, unbuttoning the first button. She didn't stop to think as her traded kisses with the brown haired teenager became more fervent as she let her hand quickly go to the next button down to continue the pattern of undoing them until she undid every button of the plaid pattern shirt.

He let her go for the moment it took for her to pull his shirt off his shoulders and drop the shirt off his back and onto the floor. He took her back in his arms with his hands found their place once again on the small of her back as she clenched the material of his white athletic undershirt in a fist and held on to it tight as she deepened her kiss with him.

Freddie growled into the kiss as she instinctively grinned against his mouth. His hands slid up her back then swept through her hair and across her shoulder blades to rest on her shoulders. His right pointer and middle fingers caught her left strap of her shirt and bra and gently pulled it over her left shoulder and down her upper arm. He started kissing down her jaw line then down her neck to reach the spot between her neck and collarbone then finished his trail of kissed to the now bare shoulder. After taking a slight detour with his mouth to inside the crux between her neck and shoulder, he dipped his head further down to kiss her exposed skin over her heart.

She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes from the tenderness of the kiss. Her right hand slipped up to slide her fingers through his hair just above his neck and softly grasp the back of his head. He lifted his head up and he flashed his boyish grin towards her. She let out a soft laugh for a brief moment before diving back to capture his soft lips.

Their respective feet knew by instinct to slowly get them to start walking towards the bedroom as they continued kissing.

It was a minor miracle that they didn't bump into anything as they made their way across the living room and into his bedroom. Neither had actually realized that they were actually moving in a particular direction until the back of Jade's legs bumped to the edge of the bed, but he held her steady for a moment by the waist. Freddie leaned forward and helped her lay back onto the bed.

He braced his hands on the bed on either side of her to hold himself up and keep his weight off of her as lowered his head to maintain their exchange of increasingly eager kisses. Her hands started sliding down his shirt until they reached the hem and she was able to slide her hands up and under. At the same time, her left foot up onto the bed, raising her leg and bending her knee as to rest her leg against his hipbone and inviting him to lower himself closer to her.

Freddie groaned into her mouth as her nails would softly trail across his skin then warm palms would rub across the same spot again. His right hand glided away from her left shoulder that he was tenderly rubbing to slide down her arm then down the side of her abdomen, where his thumb briefly brushed the side of her breast and pulled a heated moan from her lips. His hand stopped on her dark blue jean covered raised thigh to pull her close to him as he lowered himself slightly.

They each let out primal growl into the other's mouth from the frictional contact of their hips grinding against one another as a hardwired response to the quite enjoyable situation.

Jade didn't realize as her hands were palming his abs on their on volition that her left hand was trailing further down and clawing at his belt buckle.

Freddie's right hand began to slip from her outer thigh to her inner thigh and up bumping into her exploring left hand, but didn't stop until his thumb caught the button of her jeans. His fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt to play across her pale abdomen and belly button for few moments until the sound of him undoing the button of her jeans brought both of them out of their frenzy for a moment to look at one another.

He pulled his head back and her breath caught as she looked up to meet his equally apprehensive eyes. He swallowed nervously as each was breathing quickly in an effort to slow their respective breathing. They looked to one another trying to figure out what the other wanted.

Jade saw the fear and the uncertainty in his eyes. He was being the most honest with her in this moment. She was feeling the same uncertainty and she knew her eyes were conveying the same openness to him, yet she felt safe at the same time being with him in this position. She reached up and brushed her fingers through his hair on the right side of his head. She gave him a barely perceivable smile that he had learned to notice over the last three weeks.

She took a deep breath then whispered, "Yes?" as an answer and a question to him.

He let out a fearful breath, but smiled, "Yes." He lowered his head to capture her lips again just for an instant then started trailing down her chin, neck then to her cleavage showing just above the first button of her shirt.

The dark haired beauty let a small smile play on her face as she closed her eyes and felt his gentle touch unbuttoning the top button of her shirt then went from there…

Freddie's Hotel Room  
>Saturday, July 23, 2011<p>

The ride back to Freddie's hotel was a quiet, but pleasant ride. He could tell instantly that Jade's spirits had lifted after talking with Beck. He was glad that she apparently had found some, if momentary, peace with Beck. She didn't go into detail with him about what the former couple had said to one another, but whatever was said between them was enough for them to believe that a friendship could survive them breaking up and dating other people even this soon. As much as maybe he should have felt threatened by Beck, he couldn't be happier that it could work out between the actor and Jade.

It was shared contentment the couple was holding on to as they reached his hotel room. Freddie unlocked the door quickly as he was determined to get inside and finally fix Jade a nice dinner (He still hadn't gotten to the Farmers' Market that day between all the drama that plagued them, which did annoy him to a certain extent).

Freddie slipped his key out of the locks then back in his pocket, but his face fell when he passed through the entryway and entered the kitchen. Sam was sitting on the arm of the sofa in the living room while Carly was sitting on the other side of the kitchen counter. He saw from the corner of his eye that Jade's expression went from peaceful to annoyance faster than flipping a light switch. However, he didn't give it much thought as his mouth moved before his brain even began to process an appropriate response, "What are you doing here?"

Carly answered with her irritation slipping into her voice, "We were not done talking."

Freddie clenched his jaw tight for a moment. "I said we were done and your first response was to break into my hotel room?"

Jade leaned over and whispered, "Second."

He looked to her with a raised eyebrow. He asked quickly with a disbelieving tone, "Second?"

She quickly rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'll tell you later."

He nodded and looked back to Carly. She got off of the stool with Sam pushing off the armrest of the couch as to stand in the middle of his living room.

The Seattle native let out a breath and slowly approached as to meet them in the living room with Jade not daring to leave his side. He shook his head and just stared at the brunette for a moment. He finally spoke after his visual scrutiny of his former love. "Would you just go?"

"No," Carly responded with a higher than normal pitch voice.

"Fine, I'll just call the cops and have you arrested," he replied in a sarcastic tone.

Sam snorted out, "You're not going to call the cops on us."

Freddie reached in his pocket to pull out his phone and stated, "Watch me."

Carly held up a hand and pleaded, "Wait, we just wanted to finish our conversation."

Freddie pushed his phone back in his jean pocket and frowned at the brunette. "What's there to talk about? We're just going to have the same conversation again. You know the one where neither of us is going to budge, so I'm done and I'm done with this joke of a friendship. I just want you two out of my life."

Carly replied hotly, "Our friendship isn't a joke."

Freddie snapped, "Then why do you treat it as one?"

The brunette frowned and narrowed her look towards her quickly slipping away friend. "I don't treat it as a joke."

"If that's the case, why can't you respect my opinion for once in your life? No, 'Please for me' dressed up in a different manner or demanding I change my mind, just let me make a choice in peace regardless of whether you agree with it or not."

"Because it's wrong and you're not thinking clearly," she paused for a moment to glance harshly towards Jade. "Especially now."

The dark hair teenager glared just as harshly at the brunette.

"No, I have finally started thinking clearly when it comes to you and Sam. These three weeks have been great: no one has insulted me, embarrassed me or hit me. I've been around people that actually like me… will actually miss me when I'm back in Seattle. I've been respected about my interests and appreciated for them. I've had the best time probably in my life."

Sam snorted out a reply, "More ways than one."

He turned his harsh gaze towards the dirty blonde and replied just as challengingly, "It's not going to work Sam. I don't feel any shame with whatever you think I've done or haven't done. You sure as Hell aren't in any position to judge me."

The blonde motioned a hand towards them and asked in an accusatory tone, "So you didn't sleep with her?"

Jade wore an impassive expression.

Freddie shrugged and responded flippantly, "I don't have to answer you either way. I don't owe either of you any explanation for my actions. I never really did and I should have never humored either of you in thinking I should."

Carly shook her head, "We just think you're making a mistake—"

"So what if I am? How many have you made and ignored me? And tell me how it's a mistake not to date Sam? If I date her, will she stop hitting me or insulting me or treating my like shit? Here's a thought: maybe she shouldn't do any of those things in the first place? She doesn't do any of that to you."

"But you and Sam have always gone back and forth. That's how your friendship works."

"When have I hit Sam? When have I gone out of my way to insult her just because I felt like it? When did I embarrass Sam? Especially when I had my chance at Troubled Waters and didn't take the chance for payback. No Carly, we aren't on some kind of even footing: I'm just her punching bag and I've had enough. Just respect me saying 'No'."

Carly snorted out a breath as she felt that situation was slipping through her fingers for the last time. "As if you ever respected me telling you no."

Freddie laughed out dismissively then answered back, "I haven't tried anything in the last year and a half because I've been waiting on an answer you agreed to give me. You finally got around to it and told me by getting interested in Adam and dating Steven instead of just talking to me about it. You said no loud and clear that way… and I accepted it. Before the accident? I was thirteen, fourteen and fifteen years old trying my best _without any guidance_ in trying to woo you and treat you like a princess, so I could let you know how much I cared and that I would be wonderful to you, but you? You've tried to emotionally manipulate me into dating Sam. You've tried to browbeat me into dating Sam. You've tried to use the Seddie fanbase as a club over my head in that somehow they know better than me to get me into dating Sam. So no Carly, our actions are not comparable."

The web-hostess blinked from the verbal unloading he was directing at her, but he didn't give her time to formulate a reply, "I found out why I didn't go to my NERD camp."

The two Seattle girls turned their attention to each other and spared what to Jade looked like guilty expressions.

Freddie continued either not noticing or caring, "Someone changed my answers to my application." He looked directly at Sam and finished, "I wonder who that possibly could be?"

Sam swallowed as she was caught. She made several audible attempts to clear her throat then whispered, "I'm sorry, it was before I started—"

Freddie snorted out dismissing her apology to ask, "I don't care when you did it, but I am curious as to why you messed with my application."

Sam looked to the floor for a moment then whispered out with what sounded like a bit of regret in her voice, "You know a few months back I asked you what time it was and… you said, 'I don't know'. I got mad at you."

Freddie blinked while Jade was far faster in processing what the blonde had just spoken. The pale teenager was restraining her temper not to say all the nasty things running through her mind. The brown eye teenager spoke slowly not bothering to mask his disbelief, "So, because I didn't know what time it was, you go and screw up one of my dreams? You knew how important this was to me and you did it anyway."

"You can't hold that one thing against her now—" Carly began.

"The Hell I can't! She ruined my chance to—"

Carly shouted back flippantly, "Oh, who cares? Do you know how many things Sam has ruined something for me?"

Freddie blinked and let his jaw slack as he stared at the brunette. He stuttered out, "Who cares?"

Jade was not as timid as her blood pressured spiked and she roared, "Who cares? _Who cares?_" She took a calming breath and spoke in a harsh and cold tone looking directly into Carly's eyes, "I care you _stupid little girl_ and if you were his friend you would care! If you were his friend you would have did everything you could to have fixed it as soon as you found out, but no. You covered for this piece of trash. You kept her secret to protect her and now when it's come out you act like it's no big deal. You would damn well care if it was your college plans janked up."

Carly cheeks flushed in an instant and leaned back.

Sam narrowed her eyes and whispered out coldly, "Watch it."

Jade took a step forward and hissed, "Or what? You'll go after me? You're welcome to try blondie."

Carly sighed and quickly pulled some hair away from her face before speaking, "Enough!" She looked to Freddie and started with a tired tone, "Look, having Sam in your life is like owning a wild chimp."

Freddie cocked his head to the side and wondered if he heard the brunette correctly.

Jade resisted rolling her eyes at what she knew was going to be some kind of ridiculous explanation.

Carly began whimsically, "Sure she is unpredictable, she can go berserk and chew your foot off, but you keep her clean and well fed she's adorable…" Carly wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulders and smiled towards Freddie, "and cool and tons of fun."

Freddie replied calmly, "No, she's—"

Carly spoke up, "She said she was sorry! And she really meant it."

He frowned and looked coldly at the brunette. Carly's smile faltered as the coldness of his stare sent a shiver through her and her arm slipped off of Sam's shoulders.

There was a chill to his voice that Carly had never heard and stirred a bit of concern inside her heart, "As I was saying… no, she's not a wild chimp… she's a mean _bitch_ that will jank me over any way she can. I can't seem to get it through your thick head how much she hurts me and now she is willing to screw with my life plans. You may be willing to accept all that from her and love her unconditionally, but I'm not and I'm not dealing with her or you anymore. You've shown me with your attitude about my feelings with me losing my trip to NERD camp and my chance to go to any college I want that you don't give a damn about me and you don't care what she does to me." He pointed to Sam and continued, "And that _bitch_ outright hates me and will never be genuine sorry about anything because she'll never see what she does is wrong and you'll always excuse it and enable her behavior further. If you think what she does to me is what friendship and love is about then you need some serious psychological help and just as janked up as she. Now get the out of my life!"

The blonde grabbed his wrist of his outstretched arm pointing at her and yanked forward. The next moment Freddie was being flipped over Sam's right shoulder.

He growled in pain as his back and the back of his head smacked the carpeted living room floor. He rolled on to his left shoulder as he coughed trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of him. His hearing was muffled and his right shoulder felt like it was on fire as his left hand palmed it. His mind screamed through the haze, _Get up Benson! Get up Benson before she kills you!_ He rolled over with a groan onto his right shoulder he was sure was dislocated and looked up at the cold blue eyes and hate filled face. He saw that look once before: the time she nearly killed him by beating him over the head with a tennis racket in Fred's tree house. He realized one chilling thought: kill or be killed. He grunted as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and glared right back at her.

"So I'm a bit—AHHH!" Sam screamed in pain as her head jerked upwards and looked to the ceiling.

"Yes you are!" Jade's voice shouted enraged behind the blonde and grabbed hold of Sam's blonde locks at around her neck for dear life. The pale singer jerked her body around and flung Sam by the hair towards and downwards at the square dinning room table. Sam's forehead smacked hard against the wooden table and the sound reverberated throughout the hotel room. Jade yanked the web-hostess up and twisted around putting her entire weight into flinging Sam around her and towards the kitchen. Jade let loosened her grip, but did tear some of Sam's hair out as the blonde went face first into the linoleum floor.

Sam's vision was blurred and her head was ringing with pain, but she found the strength to pull her face off the floor and turned over slowly just in time to see Jade's left fist come at her face. The singer clocked the blonde good on the right side of her face and sliced open her upper right cheek with her claw ring on her ring finger sending blood splattering on the floor. The next sensation the dizzy blonde felt was that her hair was about to be ripped out of her scalp as she felt her body jerk across the floor. It took her a moment to realize what was happening and started clawing at Jade's hands. The raven haired teenager was dragging her across the kitchen floor towards the door and the blonde was kicking her feet uselessly and screaming in pain.

Jade yanked her right hand free of the hair that was catching in between her fingers and rings and taking a bit of dirty blonde hair with them. She clasped at the hotel door for a moment until finally getting a good grip and opening the door. She turned back to Sam struggling on the floor and yanked one more time to drag her out into the hallway. The pale teenager gave the blonde on the floor a good kick to the abdomen with her steel toe boot to keep her down. Sam curled into a fetal position and coughed out in pain.

Jade looked down at her adversary and hissed out, "Not as much fun when someone fights back is it?"

Sam coughed and held her abdomen as she tried to roll onto her knees and patted the floor with her right hand in an attempt to push herself back up. Her face slammed into the carpeted floor with Jade pressing her down hard in the middle of her shoulder blades with her boot. "Stay down!"

Sam was in no position to argue with Jade digging the heel of her boot into the blonde's back and pinning an arm underneath her. She let her foot off of her a moment or so later.

Jade growled and was bearing her teeth as she walked back into the hotel room and turned her gaze to the stunned brunette still standing in the living room. She point to the door and shouted, "Get out and take that bitch with you or I swear I'm going to tear you apart too!"

Carly swallow and stared wide eyed at the pale teenager.

"NOW!" she shouted with pure hatred in her voice and eyes.

Carly's feet moved out of instinct and ran past her towards the hotel door. She was out a moment later with Jade slamming the door behind her. Jade locked both locks then looked to Freddie who blinked at her dumbfounded.

Jade let out a breath and blinked a few times to try to calm herself. She rushed to Freddie's side and knelt down. She delicately touched his left shoulder and asked desperately, "Oh my God, are you alright?"

Freddie shook his head and tried to focus on the pale girl as his ears were still ringing and comprehend what he just witnessed. "No, I think she dislocated my shoulder," he whispered out in pain. "And my head is killing me. I know my back is going to feel it in the morning."

She let out a quick breath as she spoke, "I have to get you to a hospital."

Freddie shook his head again even if the motion made his head spin. "No, I just need you to help me pop it back into place."

She gave him a curious look.

He sighed then replied, "I did it one time during a fencing match… just don't tell my mother."

Jade gave him a frown and replied in a firm voice, "I'm not arguing with you. I am taking you to the hospital. Can you get up?"

"I think I can." Freddie shifted his weight to his left and slowly got to his feet with Jade getting under his left arm to assist him in standing.

He was up and on his feet as he let out a breath. He looked to her and whispered, "Get in front of me and hold on to my right shoulder tight."

"What?"

"Just do it," he stated in a curt tone.

Jade nodded hesitantly then took a step around to stand in front of him and took hold of his right shoulder. He surprised her a moment later as he jerked his body against her braced hand and popped his shoulder back. He let out a mixture of a hiss and growl through the pain and rested his forehead in the crook of her neck. She instantly raised her right hand and stroked the back of his head. She could already feel a lump forming on the back of his head and felt the stinging sensation behind her eyes in wanting to cry. She ignored it and focused on the matter at hand.

She whispered as tenderly as she ever thought had crossed her lips, "It's okay, I'm taking you to the hospital and you're going to be okay. Where are your keys?"

He took a quick breath then looked up to meet her eyes knowing that he couldn't argue with her. "Still in my pocket."

The pale teenager nodded and reached inside his jeans pocket to pull out the keys to his rental car. She turned and shifted to get her right shoulder under his left armpit. They slowly made their way to the door, careful not to slip on any of Sam's blood splashed across the floor. Once they reached the door, she reached out unlocked both locks and open it for them to exit.

They stopped just outside the threshold of the room as Carly was helping Sam back on her feet. Sam braced her back against the opposite wall as her legs were wobbly and held an arm around her abdomen. She glared at Jade in outright hatred.

Jade snorted out toward her in disgust then ignored her as she turned to lead Freddie to his car.

Sam coughed out, "We're not finished bitc—"

In the blink of an eye, Freddie slipped from Jade's grasp and twisted and gave Sam a left cross that snapped her head to the side and sent her back into the floor.

Carly blinked in shock and her jaw dropped open. She dropped to her knees to check the now unconscious Sam then looked up to Freddie in horror.

Freddie took a step forward and looked down to meet Carly's eyes. "You tell Sam when she wakes up if she goes after Jade, I will break her… _permanently_."

He turned around without waiting for a reply and allowed Jade to slip back under his left arm. They started their way down the hall, but Carly whispered out in sheer disbelief, "What happened to you?"

Freddie looked over his shoulder to her shocked eyes. He whispered out coldly, "I decided I wanted to be happy. Have a nice life Carly… I know I'm going to try to have one without you."

He turned and allowed Jade to help him down the hallway and towards his car.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I told you there would be adult themes and violence. Just a little author insight for you, when I outlined the second half of this chapter weeks ago, I thought I was pushing the envelope with my T rating and thought about having an entirely different outcome. However, iCan't Take It aired and saw what kind of outright beat-down Sam was allowed and could do to Gibby that sent him to the emergency room and him coming back on crutches, something dislocated and torn out hair, without her suffering <em>any consequences for it<em>, at a TVG rating, so I decided to keep my original plan as it was now apparent to me that my scene wasn't outside the realm of the TV show itself in the violence department. Also, I did borrow some of Carly's lines from that episode, but Freddie had his spine in this one.**

**I have one more chapter and an epilogue left to the story that I'll be posting next Friday.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. This is it, the final installment to the story. I hope you've enjoyed the ride. I want to thank everyone that has read and reviewed this story. I really appreciate the reviews and I try to reply to all of them. Well, on to the story…**

Chapter 28

Community General Hospital  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Saturday, July 23, 2011

Jade held her right thumbnail up to her mouth resisting the urge to gnaw on it as she paced back and forth in one of the many waiting areas of the hospital after Doctor Levinson and a nurse had taken Freddie to get a MRI for his head and an X-Ray of his shoulder.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital (after Jade ran several red lights without comment from Freddie who remained eerily silent staring out the passenger window during the trip), Jade nearly manhandled a doctor to get him to see Freddie right away. Fortunately the doctor on duty she grabbed was Doctor Levinson, the one that had treated her for the bacterial infection from Trina's feet cleaning fish fiasco and played along with Rex being a person when the puppet was sucked inside the turbojet (and let her keep the fatty lump from the back of a taxi driver), so the pair didn't have to wait for someone to see Freddie.

The couple may not have had to wait for Freddie to get treated, but now the waiting to hear about how Freddie was doing was taking its toll on dark haired actress and the pacing wasn't helping anymore after the first half hour of waiting. She decided that wearing out the floor and her boats was counterproductive and finally had a seat away from the handful of other people sharing the waiting area. She closed her eyes and let out a tired breath as she rested her folded forearms across her knees.

After a few moments, Jade started feeling a tapping sensation on her right forearm. She opened her eyes, bewildered at seeing her left hand slightly trembling as it rested on her arm. She clenched her left fist tight and held it against her mouth to stop the appendage from shaking as the pale teenager realized that she was finally coming off of her adrenaline high from the fight. The faint scent of the dried, caked blood on the silver claw ring from where she had slashed open Sam's cheek reached her nostrils.

The odor triggered her emotions to flare once again as oxygen being pumped into a dying fire, but she could only maintain the emotional response of her anger and now outright hatred of Samantha Puckett for so long before burning out with her metaphorical fire. Her feelings about the blonde were also being tempered for the moment by her worry of not hearing anything about what was going on with Freddie.

She could only be pulled emotionally in so many directions at once. She opened her fist and dropped her forehead into her awaiting palms, supported by her arms resting on her knees. Her breath hitched in her throat and she could feel the faint burning around her eyes as the first sign of approaching tears as her walls for compartmentalizing were near their breaking point.

"Jadelyn?" a soft, concern voice whispered out her full name.

The raven haired teenager lifted her head to see her mother's concerned matching blue eyes. As soon as the West matriarch saw her daughter's eyes, she wrapped her daughter in her arms and the teenager clung tight to her mother.

Ruby West started softly stroking the back of Jade's head and whispered into her ear, "It's okay sweetie, what happened?"

Jade took a deep breath to help her focus holding the walls from breaking for a few more moments to maintain her composure so she could pull back so she could face her mother.

Ruby reluctantly released her daughter and took the neighboring empty seat, but held on to her left hand. She immediately noticed the dried blood on the ring and snapped her head up with concern playing on her features.

"It's not mine… it's Sam Puckett's."

Ruby blinked and slightly frowned before asking, "The girl from iCarly?"

Jade nodded then continued in a soft voice and quite vulnerable to the older woman's ears, "Freddie and I had just got back to his hotel." The teenager cracked a brief smile as she spoke, "He wanted to fix me a nice dinner, but when we got there…" then the smile quickly faded and her voice filled with dread, "Carly and Sam were waiting. They had broken in while we were with Cat and everyone else. Freddie and they got into another argument when they refused to leave and it started getting nasty. One thing was said that led to another and before we knew it, Sam grabbed him and threw him over her shoulder onto the floor and was ready to… beat him, maybe even kill him, but I grabbed her and we got into a fight. I was able to hurt her enough to get her out of the hotel room. Sam dislocated his shoulder and he hit the back of his head pretty good on the floor. I… I helped him to his feet and drove him here. It's been probably forty minutes since they took him to check him out. They haven't told me how he's doing."

The dark haired beauty let out a slow breath as Jade finished with her explanation. "Sweetie… I'm sorry. I'm sure he's going to be okay. They're probably just being thorough."

Jade nodded then looked away. She stared off into nowhere in particular in the half filled room. She whispered surprising even herself, "We're together now."

"What?"

In a slow and tired breath, Jade answered, "Me and Freddie… he's my boyfriend."

A bit of surprise slipped into Ruby's voice as she asked, "So you took my advice? When did this happen?"

"This morning."

Ruby allowed her worry to pass across her features for a moment then whispered, "You spent the night with him last night and you've been dodging my phone calls all day…"

Jade looked up and met the equally pale woman. She murmured, "Yes I did…"

The meaning of her the words and tone were immediately clear to the forty-something year old woman. Her frown deepened and her eyes became just as cold as any time Jade had directed a similar look to her rivals.

Jade was smart enough to know that the gaze wasn't directed at her, but the look stoked her passions one last time so she could defend her boyfriend, "He didn't take advantage of me… we… he's a good guy, just… a little broken."

Ruby spoke in a chilly tone rarely heard by Jade, "Are you sure? Or did he just take his time to get what he wanted then leave in a week? Did you somehow forget about that?"

If it was possible, Jade's face became paler in front of her mother's eyes as that realization dawned on her again, but this time brought an entirely different meaning than last night.

Ruby frowned and her eyes gave her a sympathetic look as she could see her daughter's heart break. "I'm sorry—"

Jade closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, it's not that…" She looked back up to face her mother as she continued, "We were going to figure out how we were going to make it work, we just haven't had the chance to talk about it yet." She took a deep breath and pulled the last of her emotional reserves to meet the older woman's eyes, "Mom… he can't go back. His life's over in Seattle. If he goes back… I don't know what will happen to him. Besides his mother, he has no one that cares about him and now his friends have turned on him… for God sake's we're having this conversation in a hospital because his so-called 'friend' dislocated his shoulder and gave him a possible head injury and that's just the latest of things she's done to him. He's lost everything… except me."

Ruby swallowed as she looked into her daughter's fierce, but desperate eyes. She started to open her mouth to speak, but Doctor Levinson approached the sitting pair, pulling Jade's attention away from her mother.

The teenager stood up in an instant and quickly asked, "Is he alright?"

The older doctor nodded and replied, "Yes. He didn't tear anything in his shoulder and he should have full mobility of his arm in a few days—"

"What about his head?"

Levinson took a quick breath then answered, "His head is fine other than a little bump on the back of it, except…"

"Except what?"

He tilted his head and put on an odd smirk. "We found the strangest thing when we were doing the MIR."

The bottom fell out of the Jade's stomach and she thought she was going to be sick right there as all the horrible possibilities started running through her head. She was able to choke out, "What?"

Levinson frowned slightly as if he was contemplating whether she would believe him or not, but decided to go ahead and speak, "We found a microchip just under the skin on the right side of the back of his head."

Jade blinked and her jaw slacked for a moment as the dread was swept away and replaced by confoundedness before asking slowly, "A microchip?"

He nodded and gave a slight smirk as he answered, "Yes, it looks like it was surgically implanted years ago. It burnt out when we ran the scan and I performed a little, minor surgery, if you will, and was able to get it out without a problem. We didn't even need to put in any stitches."

Jade took a slow breath as this day had just turned very strange (as if it wasn't odd enough). "Can I see him?"

"Yes, but he's going to check out in a few minutes. He's getting dressed. He's in the second room on the left."

"Thanks doc," she quickly answered then walked past him and leaving her mother behind.

* * *

><p>Jade swallowed as she quietly walked into the private room. Freddie had his back turned towards the door and was busy throwing the hospital gown into a chair to notice her enter. He had already put his jeans back on and now was carefully pulling his undershirt over his head.<p>

She softly knocked on the open door. "Hey?"

He turned quickly as he was tucking the shirt in pants and saw Jade's hesitant smile. "Hi?" he whispered back as he felt slightly awkward seeing her standing at the door.

They stared at one another as he instinctively reached for his button shirt lying at the foot of the bed. He broke eye contact for a moment as he grimaced while sliding his button up shirt slowly over his arms and onto his shoulders.

She walked up and started with the second button from the collar before asking, "Let me help?"

He reluctantly nodded and allowed her to continuing buttoning up his shirt. As she was looking down and finishing with the last button she asked, "How are you feeling?"

He slightly frowned staring at her forehead as he answered, "I just had my shoulder dislocated, the back of my head smashed into the floor, my friends play Judas on me and I just had a microchip cut out of the back of my head, how do you think I feel?"

She snapped her head up with a furled brow and a deep frown.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry…" He stepped away from her and walked over to a table next to the hospital bed where a small specimen jar was sitting on the table top.

He picked the small specimen jar with the burnt out microchip off the table and held it up. He looked at it and spoke for a moment as if he was reading out of a science textbook, "A changing magnetic field induces a voltage." He turned his attention back to the pale actress to see her reserved face and snorted out, "The MRI was strong enough to burn it out and burn me a little bit under my skin… it's the principle behind Electro-Magnetic pulses, but I don't want to bore you to tears explaining it more." He placed it back on to the table and turned to look out the window with a deep frown to see the sun finally going down in the early Los Angeles summer evening.

He let out a tired breath before continuing, "My mother put a microchip in my head so she could keep track of me like some damn dog. Her electronic leash on me… what a way to end the day."

She slowly walked across the rest of the room to join him looking out the window.

He closed his eyes and murmured, "It's really over now… my life really has gone to Hell."

Jade shrugged her shoulders and looked to him helplessly. The hurt she was feeling for him slipped into her voice, "Saying sorry doesn't seem enough."

He turned his head and opened his eyes to see the tired face of the girl that had inadvertently grown to mean a great deal to him. "It's not, except from you," he replied forcing at least a brief smile to the dark haired teenager. "But I can look at the brighter side of the situation: at least I'm not living in the dark anymore. Everything is out in the open, no more pretending. I know absolutely where I stand with people back home." He snorted out then replied in a morbid tone, "Senior year should be interesting…"

Jade closed her eyes tightly from a moment and steadied her breath. She opened her eyes and looked him directly in his brown eyes. "Please don't go back."

He blinked as he wasn't sure that he had heard her correctly. He gave her a perplexed look as he asked, "What?"

She leaned forward then cupped his cheeks in her both her hands. "I don't know how to do it, but don't go back to Seattle after the workshop is done. Stay here. Stay in L.A."

His jaw slacked in her hands and he responded in disbelief, "I just can't stay. I have to go hom—"

Her face fell with dread as she interrupted, "Home? That's home? Go back to a place where everyone treats you as a joke and doesn't give one damn about you? I'm not even talking about how you know Carly and Sam are going to treat you when you get back. You think they are going to take one bit of responsibility for what happened tonight? They going to dump all the blame on you and try to force you to admit you were wrong and to apologize to them."

Freddie clenched his jaw tight from the underlining assumption Jade was voicing then whispered coldly, "I can handle them."

She blew out a breath and dropped her hands from his cheeks. "You can handle them? You'll have to kill Sam to stop her because no one will say or do anything to her. You'll be the one going to jail."

"Jade—"

She gently took his right hand and gently squeezed it. "I… I don't want Seattle to destroy you… that's exactly what's going to happen with everyone against you. They won't let you live in peace… they didn't let you live in peace before all of this."

Freddie took in a slow breath as he looked into Jade's sad eyes. If the arm, head and the betrayal of his friends didn't hurt enough, her sad expression piled on to his pain. It killed him to see Carly hurt, now it killed him a little to see Jade in pain.

"You can stay with us," a feminine voice called out from the entrance of the room.

The pair turned instantly in surprise to see Mrs. West standing at the threshold of the room looking at the couple with a sympathetic look on her face.

Her pale daughter raised an eyebrow completely shocked at her mother's words.

Ruby gave her a half smile and tilted her head to the side slightly as she answered the unspoken question, "I have a soft spot for hard luck cases."

Jade raised an eyebrow as shock gave way to confusion.

The older woman gave a half smirk. "It's a long story… I might tell you about it one day."

Jade looked to Freddie hoping that he would accept the offer.

Freddie was still trying to completely process that he had heard the pale beauty's words correctly and was a little taken aback by the proposal, but what little he had processed triggered his responsible side of instinctively thinking no to the offer. He slowly started, "Mrs. West… that's a… gracious offer, but… I don't think it's that simple."

"Actually it is that simple: go back to a place where you're unwanted or stay here where you are wanted. The choice would only be hard for a fool or a masochist; it's making it happen that might be a little difficult, but do not confuse the two."

Freddie looked to Jade and saw the desperate look in her eyes for his answer to be yes. It was as if it was a dream being dangled in front of him of a better life in order to torment him, because after tonight, what did he really have to go back to other than his mother? He half expected to wake up in his bed in Seattle and find out that all this had been a dream and he was actually in some silly physical relationship with Sam pretending it was something real that would only be held together by Carly's intervention, but… Jade's hand still holding on to his hand told him it wasn't a dream.

What they shared last night hadn't been a dream and the previous three weeks were not a dream. They had been real and he had been loved and cared about and he had been happy even through the awkwardness and confusion at times… and most importantly of all, he had made her happy… and finding out he could actually like mean girls… if her name was Jade West.

He took one last deep breath then replied, "Okay, I'll stay."

Jade let out a relieved breath and put on the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen her wear. She quickly wrapped her arms around him to hold on tight behind the neck.

Freddie lifted his left arm and gently patted her on the back.

She hesitantly started, "Freddie, I…" but trailed off as she didn't know how to put into words how she felt.

He smiled and blew out a soft breath that tickled her ear. "We're going to need to come up with a phrase for each other until we can say 'I love you'."

She whispered back in a relieved manner with a grin that he could feel tickling his ear this time, "Yeah, we do, but we'll figure something out—"

"But in the meantime," he interrupted playfully, "I, you too."

She snorted out warm laugh then pulled back enough so that she could kiss him while still holding on to him tight.

He kissed back grinning the entire time.


	29. Epilogue

Epilogue

Benson Residence  
>Seattle, WA<br>Saturday, August 6, 2011

Freddie closed the two top flaps of the cardboard box sitting on the bare mattress of his bed then preceded to tape across where the flaps met and securing the top closed. He picked up the magic marker off the bare mattress and wrote 'Freddie's Room' and a quick note about the contents of the box on one of the top flaps. It was the last box packed of his personal affects.

He took a deep breath then let it out slowly as he looked up. He looked around his bare walls and empty room other than several other stacked boxes of his possessions near the bedroom door that hadn't been moved to the living room yet. He looked back to the only thing left in the room (other than the long desk pushed against the wall): the bed and mattress, but he knew as soon as he was gone that his mother would redo the bed with new sheets, blankets and pillows so he would have a place to sleep when he visited.

A pair of thin pale arms wrapped around the front of his waist and a soft chin rested on his left shoulder. He turned to see the greenish/blue soft eyes and warm smile of his girlfriend just before she gave him a peck on the cheek.

He gave her a warm smile. "Hey."

"Hi," Jade replied just as warmly. She let go of him then took a seat on the mattress and rested her left arm on the finished packed box. "So, are you done?"

"Yep," he replied and patted the top of the box beside her forearm. "This is the last box." He took a moment to look at the pale teenager. She was dressed down to help him pack up his bedroom: she was wearing one of his old Penny Tees (Dried Gold) that became too small on him since completing rehab and his continued workout regiment, and some old faded blue jeans. Her now dark brown hair (she had let the black hair dye mostly wash out last week) was pulled back behind her ears and her head was covered with an old blue patterned bandana that she said belong to her late godmother. She had also left out her eyebrow and nose piercings and blue/green streaks out of her hair just for the day (He was just as dressed down with a pair of old blue jeans, but wearing his new, complimentary blue T-shirt with the Hollywood Arts, HA logo printed on the front he got after being accepted into the school).

She replied with a half smile and nod of her head, "Good, because I think it's time for lunch, some real lunch, not what you mother calls lunch, then we can pack the rest of this stuff on the trailer."

He leaned forward/down and captured her lips with his lips for a moment then pulled back and smiled. Their faces were just an inch or two apart when he whispered, "Sounds like a great idea. What did you have in mind?"

She grinned in response, but before she could respond verbally, he stole another kiss. He pulled back again and smiled.

She sighed and started again, but he swooped back in and stole another kiss from her lips. He leaned back and grinned from nearly ear to ear.

"Freddie!" she admonished with a soft glare and a hint of irritation, but he easily heard the playfulness in her tone.

He chuckled, "Okay, I'll stop for the moment."

"Thank you," she sighed out then continued, "I thought we'd order in some pizza and some of Galini's Pie you enjoy so much."

"You do know how to spoil me," he commented with a hint of gratefulness in his voice.

"Yeah, well…" she trailed off with a smile. "You've always been grateful."

He held his smile as he replied, "Speaking of being grateful, I have to remember to do something nice for your mother to thank her."

Jade nodded as she replied, "Mom would appreciate that, but she wouldn't expect you to do anything. Who knew she had a propensity to help troubled souls?"

Freddie laughed softly, "Yeah, well… all the more reason, but that would be an interesting story if she ever cared to share." He leaned forward once more to share a kiss with the dark brunette. As they exchanged a few playful kisses, a soft knock on the open bedroom door caught their attention.

They turned their attention to the bedroom door as Colonel Shay smiled as he added his thoughts with a soft laugh, "It is an interesting story: it involves a little bit of friendship, a little bit of romance and a couple of fist fights." He was wearing a grey Penny Tee with the words in Air Force blue: FLY BOY and blue jeans.

Freddie pulled back and turning from the bed while Jade stood up and asked in surprise, "Colonel?"

"Hi Jadelyn," he replied with a warm smile. "You look as lovely as ever… just like your mother," he continued with a nod of his head. He looked to Freddie and gave a respectful nod and smile, "Mister Benson."

Freddie was just as surprised seeing the Air Force Colonel standing at his bedroom door. "Hello… ah, do you mind me asking why you're here sir?"

Shay nodded his head to the side and replied in a friendly tone, "My Joint-Tour just finished and I'm back for some long overdue leave. I just wanted to stop by and see you before you left for L.A." He looked to the pale teenager and asked respectfully, "Could you give Mister Benson and me a few minutes?"

Jade blinked in surprise at the request and wasn't sure what to make of it.

Freddie whispered softly, catching his girlfriend's attention, "It's alright."

The pale singer looked to Freddie and saw the comforting look on his face. She let out a breath and nodded, relenting to his request. "I'll take a box to the living room and order our lunch."

Freddie nodded with a grateful smile and replied, "Thank you."

She returned the thanks with a bashful smile of her own and a nod of her head. She turned and approached the door, taking a moment to pick up one of the lighter boxes from the stack. She headed out the door and gave the Colonel a smile as she passed him at the door. He returned with a smile.

The former flyer looked back to Freddie with a smile. "So… done packing?" he asked rhetorically with a slight laugh as he obviously saw that the room had already been stripped bare.

He nodded respectfully and replied in a friendly tone, "Yes, sir." He patted the box on the bed. "This is the last box."

The Colonel nodded and walked further into the room and leaned back against the desk against the wall. He crossed his arms and let out a breath. "So, starting over?"

"Yes sir," the brown eye teenager replied in a solemn voice.

"I relate, not exactly like you, but close enough."

Freddie looked unconvinced as he asked, "So you're not here to convince me to stay?"

The Colonel shook his head. "No, that's not my place even if I thought otherwise."

"So you think I'm making the right choice?"

Shay took a slow breath and gave an expression of contemplation. A few moments later he replied, "I think it's regretful that you got to the place where you had to make this decision."

Freddie looked down to the floor for a moment and thought on the carefully phrased response, but guessed it probably did sum up the Colonel's feelings perfectly. He briefly noticed that the Colonel was still wearing shoes that he knew would drive his mother up the wall if she saw the footwear walking on her floor, but refrained from commenting for the moment as they were talking about a more pressing matter. He looked up a few seconds later and replied, "I am too."

Shay blew out a breath then continued, "If it means anything to you son, I'm sorry how this turned out between you and Carlotta… she's loyal to a fault. She gets that from me… Shays will sacrifice morality and principle for the ones they love… the only thing we will sacrifice them for. I'm sorry Carly didn't realize she didn't have to make a choice."

Freddie raised a hesitant eyebrow as he cautiously asked, "Is that why you're here? To apologize for her?"

"No, that's her place. It's her place to take responsibility for her choices and it's her responsibility to attempt to make amends if that is what she chooses to do. I just wanted to check on you and let you know maybe why Carly did what she did. I wanted to let you know that if you ever needed anything you could still count on me."

"So we're still not even?"

Shay shook his head. "Nope, not by a long shot."

Freddie snorted out a laugh.

The pair fell into a brief silence until Freddie continued somewhat bashfully, "I was expecting Carly to maybe try to convince me to stay… but I haven't seen her."

Shay tilted his head slightly to the side as he explained, "She's not here because she's avoiding you; she's spending the next two weeks with her Uncle Barry."

Freddie shut his mouth quickly and raised his eyebrows as he thought about the stories he had heard about the Dorfmans. He warily asked, "So you _are_ punishing her?"

Shay smirked at Freddie apparently knowing about the Dorfmans' eccentric behavior. "If she thinks it's punishment to spend some time with her uncle and cousins, then that's reason enough to send her to them, but no, it isn't punishment. Her losing you as a friend, probably for the rest of her life, is punishment enough. She'll punish herself more than I ever could for her shortsightedness."

Freddie nodded along as he understood all too well the pain (if she was really going through it) as he was still hurting over losing the illusion of her as a friend. The phrase 'Who cares?' had haunted him over the last few weeks, especially late at night when all was quiet, and he didn't doubt they would haunt him for the foreseeable future. However, he did not have time to dwell on that, so he asked, "Then why?"

The former flyer shrugged a shoulder as he replied casually, "She just needs to get away for awhile, give her a chance to process what happened in a safe environment… get away from Samantha for a little bit. Maybe even learn not to be so damn judgmental towards people that don't fit her definition of 'normal'. It might give me the chance to salvage Samantha, because I'm not letting her drag Carly down with her if she insists on staying on the road that either is going to land her in prison or the morgue."

Freddie snorted out a laugh, "You think any of that's possible?"

The former Tech-Producer saw the friendly disposition to the former flyer turn to one of grim determination. "I understand the bitterness and the hatred that's seeping into your love for Carly, but she's my little girl, I have to try to save her. I lost my wife; I'm not losing my daughter."

Freddie shut his mouth quickly and gave a respective nod. "I hope… I hope everything works out for Carly."

The Colonel gave a brief smile as thanks then raised a finger. "I do too… but I was wondering one thing. Actually, it's the last reason why I came over."

"Oh?" Freddie asked as the statement peaked his curiosity.

"I wanted to see if I could satisfy my curiosity on how in the world you convinced Marissa to let you move in with Ruby down in L.A.?"

Freddie smirked and cocked his head to the side. "Honestly?"

Shay briefly chuckled, "If you don't mind?"

Freddie blew out a breath then answered kind of reluctantly, "It was a combination of emotional manipulation about her only child being happy and safe away from Seattle, I played on our faith with Scripture about the need for her to let me go be a man on my own, guilt tripping her about the microchip she put in my head as a baby and finally the threat that in several months on my eighteenth birthday I would walk right out the front door and go down to L.A. anyway without looking back." He finished with a little bit of shame in his voice, "It wasn't exactly my proudest moment, but…"

"It was necessary?" the Shay offered sympathetically.

"Yes."

Shay nodded along with an apparent understanding expression. "I understand. I've had to do some 'necessary' things that I'm not exactly proud of either, but don't let that guilt way on you and don't let anyone else use it against you either."

"I'll keep that in mind sir."

Shay nodded in confirmation. "Well, I've taken up enough of your time," he stated and pushed off of the desk he was still leaning against.

Freddie took a breath and wanted to say more, but wasn't sure what he should or if there was anymore to say. He fell back on the courteous thing to do, "Colonel? Do you want to stay for lunch? Jade's ordering us some pizza."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm actually having lunch with Ruby. She can't stand your mother's 'healthy' food either," he finished with a laugh.

Freddie chuckled and shook his head. "Okay."

Shay nodded one last time then turned to head for the door. However, he stopped at the threshold and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, there is one last bit of advice I can give you."

"What's that sir?"

Shay turned around completely to face the brown eye teenager and replied firmly, "When the time comes where you have to… _deal_ with Jadelyn's father, don't take any shit from Roy. He's not worth the respect he thinks he deserves."

Freddie was taken aback for a moment, but nodded along. "I'll remember that Colonel."

"You do that," Shay confirmed playfully.

The Colonel was just about to turn and leave again, until Freddie pointed down to the Colonel's feet, "Ah, Colonel… your shoes."

He looked down for a moment then back up to Freddie. He cracked a grin and retorted sarcastically, "This isn't Holy Ground and I'm not humoring Marissa. Besides, I don't know what kind of germs and mess is on this floor and I'm not tracking it back into my shoes or my home."

Freddie blinked at the absurdity of the concern about the possible uncleanness of the Benson floor.

Shay chuckled at Freddie's response. "I'll see you around Mister Benson."

The brown eye teenager gathered his wits and called out, "Later Colonel," as the former flyer disappeared from view.

Jade walked back in the bedroom a few moments later with a concerned expression on her face. "Is everything alright?"

Freddie cracked a smile and gave a slight nod as he approached her. He stopped just in front of her and rested his hands on her hips while she instinctively raised her hands to rest on his shoulders. He grinned then gently kissed her which she eagerly responded. He broke contact a few moments later then replied with a warm smile, "Yeah, everything's fine. So, I was going to get some pie?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Special Guest Appearance by Joe Flanigan as Colonel Steven Shay.<strong>

**Well that's it. There's no more… except when I start the sequel, which is tentatively titled at the moment 'Jade Likes Nice Guys'. Yes, I said it, there will be a sequel, but I need to focus on iWould Have Pounded Him Silly for a while as well as iAlready Have a Family. I hope you've enjoyed the trip with these characters. It's been fun for me. I never expected it to turn out this well from something that was originally intended to be a one chapter oneshot. Special thanks to all my reviewers (in no particular order): , PlasmaMelonXD, ToxicElixer, Urias, Eletrickkid, saints stories, BushwellFanNYC, DufFan, LanternFan, Julefor, ChaosAgentLoki, Riotstarter1214, animeteen2010, Darkslayer5817, Techygirl and crash76.**

**Don't hesitate to drop a review now to let me know what you thought about the entire story or any ideas you have for the sequel.**


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